Any kid who went to elementary school in Canada from the 1980s onward knows the three R’s: Reduce, reuse and recycle. Now that many of those same kids are homeowners, they’re looking for ways to incorporate those childhood lessons into their living spaces.
“Everybody is more aware of the topic — manufacturers and consumers — so many companies have environmentally friendly lines,” says Cameron MacNeil, design editor at Canadian House & Home magazine and a freelance designer for the past ten years.
“You can look at so many environmentally friendly products today and not know they are environmentally friendly … it’s not a big trend anymore when it’s becoming the norm, which is good.”
Now more than ever, there are home decorating options that won’t deplete the earth’s limited resources.
For one of his projects MacNeil installed recycled glass countertops, while for another he picked up a dinning tabletop made from 100-per-cent post-consumer cardboard.
“Even today a client thought she needed a new sofa but I showed her that all it needed was a slipcover on the old one.”
