Kathleen Heaney:
Hello, and welcome to Kathleen Can Do It, the DIY podcast celebrating the fun and fails of doing it yourself. I'm Kathleen Heaney.

Kathleen Martin:
And I'm Kathleen Martin.

Kathleen Heaney:
And we're just two Kathleens getting real about Earth Day and what you can do, changes that you can make today to make your home a more sustainable and earth-friendly place.

Kathleen Martin:
Let's make the earth happy.

Kathleen Heaney:
Every little bit helps. What you can do for yourself or for your home, whatever is reasonable and within your means, I think, is worth exploring.

Kathleen Martin:
You want to know a fun fact I just learned?

Kathleen Heaney:
Is it about sustainability?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kathleen Heaney:
Of course. I want to know it.

Kathleen Martin:
Some new smart refrigerators use less electricity than a light bulb.

Kathleen Heaney:
Shut the front door.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah.

Kathleen Heaney:
I think you can get tax rebates too on those energy-efficient appliances.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, you can.

Kathleen Heaney:
This podcast today is not one of those fire and brimstone podcasts where we're like, "You must change everything you do so the kids have a future."

Kathleen Martin:
Can I be honest?

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
I've only become sustainable or more sustainable when I met my husband Brian.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, that's actually so cute.

Kathleen Martin:
In the past, didn't fully understand recycling in the sense that I would recycle too much, stuff that was not recyclable, things that were not cleaned out, things that were dirty. I never looked at the little label, because recyclables are sorted based on a number. And in New Jersey, they don't really sort much. Brian says only one and two really. If it's a five, it's not really getting recycled.

Kathleen Heaney:
So the other day I actually caught my mom putting something in the trash that I was like, "That's recyclable." She's like, "No, no, no, it's not." And we looked at the number on the bottom and I said, "No, we need to check the town website to see what exactly you can put in." And they had updated it. So I think that probably, if you think you know whatever your municipality or your city, wherever you live, if you think you already know exactly what they're recycling, I think it's worth going to the website to just do a quick refresh because that kind of stuff gets updated all of the time.

Kathleen Martin:
But then on the other hand, there are things that you can recycle that I didn't even know about, like filmy plastic.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yes.

Kathleen Martin:
We recycle everything, bread bags, dry cleaner bags. If you get something delivered and it comes with those air bubble things, you can pop those. There's actually more filmy plastic in your home than you even realize. We collect it in a bag and then Brian takes it somewhere. I don't know where, but somewhere it is recycled.

Kathleen Heaney:
It's worth looking into different facilities where you live, where you can recycle things. Once I got a glass coffee table off of Craigslist that was too big for my home and I was afraid to put the big sheet of glass on the curb for pickup, because I was like, "This is going to break. It's going to make a mess. There's going to be glass everywhere." So I found a glass recycling plant, and sure enough, just dropped off the top of the table and they were so happy to take it.

Kathleen Martin:
Certain metals can be recycled for money. You can scrap. Brian's scraps.

Kathleen Heaney:
That's right.

Kathleen Martin:
Copper, whatever it is, and we've gotten hundreds of dollars for scrap metal.

Kathleen Heaney:
You know what? If maybe going to the scrap metal center is not your thing, go on Facebook and post that you have all this stuff, and sure enough, somebody who does that as their side hustle will come and pick it up from your house for you. So you don't just have to put it in the regular trash, because it really breaks my heart when I have to put something in the regular trash because I don't know how to recycle it. Like electronics, do you know that Best Buy will take back used tablets and phones and stuff like that?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. That's smart. It's a good way to do it. Can I brag a little bit?

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and brag.

Kathleen Martin:
How many bags of garbage do you think we create in a week with two people?

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, man. That is something I need to work on because I feel like my husband and I create lots of garbage. I bet you and Brian, only because I know Brian is super earth conscious, and once I heard him telling you on the phone that he didn't buy the corn at the store because it wasn't local corn and he went to a regular store, he went to the Whole Foods to buy local corn instead, I bet you guys only threw out one bag of trash a week.

Kathleen Martin:
You're right.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, my god.

Kathleen Martin:
I could be lying. It's definitely not more than two. I feel like typically it's around one.

Kathleen Heaney:
Wow.

Kathleen Martin:
Because we also compost, but you compost too and you live in a city.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
So two points, two stars for you.

Kathleen Heaney:
One of my goals for this spring and summer season is to get into building a better compost system. So I save my compost, I drive it to my mom's house, she lives like 20 minutes from me, and I put all of my compost in her compost there. And the system I have set up right now is not good. I'm not as well versed in composting techniques as I should be. Last time I opened the bin, it was very sludgy and really stinky. And most of the time, compost isn't supposed to be super stinky if you're doing it right. But yeah, I have a little pale in my house that I got from IKEA, and I put all my scraps in there. If it gets too full, I freeze my compost scraps. But also, my local city in the parks, they have these big bins where you can just walk down the street and dump your compost in there every day or every week.

Kathleen Martin:
Something that's worked really well for us, because I am not a fan of stinking compost, is buying one of those... I was going to say leaf jugs. Oh, my god. You know a spring mix box? Oh, my God.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah, yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
Really?

Kathleen Heaney:
Everybody gets those spring mix boxes at the supermarket.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, they have them in Costco or Whole Foods.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
Okay. So it's like a clear plastic bin. Once we're done with that, that becomes our compost bin and we keep it in the fridge.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, that's so smart.

Kathleen Martin:
So if you have room in the fridge, it takes up a normal spring mix box out of space, and it doesn't get stinky that way.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, that is brilliant. I love that because I bought my bin at IKEA and I wasn't doing the earth any favors by buying more plastic. But here's my dilemma: If it's already created, am I really doing the earth a bad one by buying something that's already out there? Or am I just adding to the problem of people consuming plastic all the time?

Kathleen Martin:
I think you're adding to the problem.

Kathleen Heaney:
We have to stop laughing.

Kathleen Martin:
It's serious.

Kathleen Heaney:
No, we have to stop bluffing right now.

Kathleen Martin:
I know.

Kathleen Heaney:
Okay. So we came up with just a little list, a quick breakdown of things that you and I tried to do in our homes with the DIY projects and home decor. And with Earth Day coming up, just how to be a better, more sustainable home decor human.

Kathleen Martin:
The easiest way? Buy secondhand. Keep perfectly good things out of the landfill. Facebook plug. Not a sponsor, but I wish.

Kathleen Heaney:
Facebook marketplace. I took your tips from last episode where you said to train your Facebook marketplace algorithm.

Kathleen Martin:
Yes.

Kathleen Heaney:
It's really been working. I don't know, it's like robots out there. They just know what I like now. And now when I log into Facebook, it's like we have suggestions for you, and I'm getting this really cool metal chair where the back is shaped like a bow for $5 tomorrow. I'm going to pick it up.

Kathleen Martin:
I love it. I'm jealous. That's a great fine. $5?

Kathleen Heaney:
$5, and it's not a chair that you'd sit in for a long time, but it's like a chair that doubles as a little side table or something.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, it's super cute. This week I was sharing in the Facebook group, I got two tri-fold screens.

Kathleen Heaney:
So cool.

Kathleen Martin:
They're like, I don't know, six feet tall, made out of wood.

Kathleen Heaney:
So they're like room dividers, right?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. So cool. $10 each.

Kathleen Heaney:
Unreal.

Kathleen Martin:
But they're really bright blue floral pattern, and I don't have a place for them.

Kathleen Heaney:
No.

Kathleen Martin:
But it is one of those things. Sometimes my fingers just start typing. I know.

Kathleen Heaney:
Is this available art?

Kathleen Martin:
I know. And they're like, "Yes." I was like, I'll be there tomorrow.

Kathleen Heaney:
Well, okay, imagine that you own a secondhand shop and you just got these things for 10 bucks. You could easily just buy secondhand fabric, reupholster them, and then flip them for 80 bucks each easily.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, for sure. I just tell you, I just never do the second step. All I do is buy and goes in the basement. And that's about it. But, beautiful, and the owner said they were made in the '60s by her father-in-law, so it just shows good quality materials lost forever.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah, they do last forever. I've purchased things from a website that I believe is available nationwide called AptDeco, A-P-T-D-E-C-O, Apartment Deco. And I've purchased restoration hardware dressers, actually two restoration hardware dressers, and I got something else from them, I think a chair. And they come to your house, it's white glove delivery.

Kathleen Martin:
What?

Kathleen Heaney:
It's secondhand.

Kathleen Martin:
What?

Kathleen Heaney:
And the restoration hardware dresser, one of them that I got was originally something crazy, like $3,000, and I got it for 900 and it was practically brand new.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, that's awesome.

Kathleen Heaney:
I mean, such a good buy. And it's a solid wood piece that I know I'll have this dresser for as long as I live. First of all, it's so heavy that it's never going anywhere other than where it is right now.

Kathleen Martin:
It's stuck with you.

Kathleen Heaney:
It's probably like a 200-pound dresser, but also it just is such high quality and I got it secondhand.

Kathleen Martin:
My other favorite in-person secondhand place is ReStore, Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

Kathleen Heaney:
I've heard you talk about this store before, and they've got locations all over the country. I'm pretty sure.

Kathleen Martin:
They do. So I have one right at one town over. I got my famous stuffed blue chair there. If you go to my Instagram, it's in every single photo. And they donate proceeds to Habitat for Humanity. So you feel good. You're helping others by helping your home. People just donate, just like Goodwill or anywhere else, they donate the products. So it's always changing, so many different things. It's nice to see it in person because sometimes, like me, I don't measure or scale. I always get the scale around.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah. You always have to look at the measurements. I just bought this planter that actually, it was linked on our website in our Refresh for Spring episode. I bought this planter from Anthropologie, and it's of a little cheetah cat, like lounging, and it's a hanging planter. And it got to my house and I was like, "Oh my god, this is so small." I didn't realize that it's only six inches wide. On the website it looks so much bigger.

Kathleen Martin:
I saw a girl post how she got one of those lucite, clear ghost chairs.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
She's like, "Oh my God, it's such a good deal." It was a doll chair.

Kathleen Heaney:
It was doll chair.

Kathleen Martin:
It just fit in the palm of her hand. She's like, "I did not read the directions," or whatever, "the description."

Kathleen Heaney:
Another website that I love for buying secondhand, and I believe that they're expanding nationwide, but if you live in the New York Tri-state area, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, I've purchased a lot of things from this website, kaiyo.com, Kaiyo. Last time, I went to go pick up these two little X benches that were sold out online from the inside.com. Really cute patterns. I'm standing in the entrance of the warehouse where you back your car into so they can put it in your car and I'm talking to this young guy that's working there, and I'm like, "So, you get to see a lot of cool things here, don't you?" And he's like, "Yeah, but I'm only 19, I don't really care about it." And I was like, "Sir, how dare you make an inference that I'm older and I care about secondhand furniture?"

Kathleen Martin:
You're so old. You like old boring stuff, old lady.

Kathleen Heaney:
You old lady. I don't care about this earth. I just want to get my coin. I don't know, what do 19-year-old boy spend their money on?

Kathleen Martin:
Video games.

Kathleen Heaney:
Let's talk about fast furniture and slow furniture, which I think kind of relates to buying things secondhand.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. Ready for fun fact number two?

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh yeah, I'm ready.

Kathleen Martin:
Okay. So I was looking at architecturaldigest.com, and I was reading that the majority of the furniture that is in landfills was made in the last 10 to 15 years. So, fast furniture.

Kathleen Heaney:
What is something that you purchased from a fast home decor website like Overstock or Target or Wayfair that you are sorely disappointed in?

Kathleen Martin:
Got two pantries for the kitchen from Wayfair.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
Workout storage wise, great. Quality, garbage.

Kathleen Heaney:
Not great. Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
They are so thin. When you open them, the whole thing shakes back and forth like it's hula dancing.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
It feels like it's going to fall and crush you.

Kathleen Heaney:
So a pantry that you store your food stuff in, that's something that you're probably opening every day, right?

Kathleen Martin:
All the time.

Kathleen Heaney:
So this is something that I don't think that people think about all that often. I am okay with websites that sell fast home decor because if you have sustainability in mind, there are ways to navigate those websites. Do you know what your pantries are made out of?

Kathleen Martin:
They're definitely just an MDF.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah. So a tip that I have for everybody listening to this, when I shop on Wayfair, I try to type in solid wood as a search term and then solid wood nightstand or solid wood bed frame or something because then, you can see the items that come up that are going to last you longer.

Kathleen Martin:
Right. Yeah. Makes sense. These were left in the rain when they were delivered. Opened up all warped, just like-

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, no.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, it was bad all around.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh.

Kathleen Martin:
They're still in the kitchen, but not great.

Kathleen Heaney:
When you are buying something that you're not going to be touching every day, like a dresser, you open it every day. Your nightstand, I open it, I don't know, every other day. How often do you open your nightstand?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, every other day.

Kathleen Heaney:
Every other day or so. But things like a console in the entryway where you're not opening those drawers every day and it's just sort of like a decorative item, I think you can be a little bit less conscious about buying something solid wood for those areas, just because it's not going to get the same wear and tear as your everyday furniture.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, it will last longer that way. I would say the same thing for IKEA. They're going to have the solid wood. They have a line that's pine. Or they have MDF or they have metal. So just keep that in mind for when you're shopping there and looking at material and if that's going to make sense, especially if you're shopping online. Being budget conscious doesn't mean you have to give up on being sustainable when you keep these things in mind.

Kathleen Heaney:
So I've noticed a trend with furniture companies in America lately coming out as sustainable. There's this one brand I'm really interested in. I've never purchased anything from them. They're called Inside Weather, and they say that they're the most sustainable furniture on the market. All of their materials are selected with intention, and they plant two trees vis-a-vis the National Forest Foundation every time an order is placed with them.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, that's impressive.

Kathleen Heaney:
For me, I'm willing to spend a little bit more on a brand that I know is doing good things for the earth.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. I just pulled up their website. That couch, that sectional is really interesting on the homepage. It's like this modular white, really puffy sectional, but the one arm has a beautiful wood detail.

Kathleen Heaney:
Ooh.

Kathleen Martin:
It has all wood on the bottom. It looks really high end. I don't know how much it costs. It probably costs a lot. But that's the thing, it's like you are going to pay more, but it's going to last you longer.

Kathleen Heaney:
Cost per use, I feel like you hear that term a lot in clothing.

Kathleen Martin:
Oh yeah. It is expensive.

Kathleen Heaney:
What's the price of the couch?

Kathleen Martin:
This is a biggie, big ass couch. It's 4,800.

Kathleen Heaney:
$4,800. But what's the size of it?

Kathleen Martin:
It's a four-seater plus a chase.

Kathleen Heaney:
Okay. So it's very large.

Kathleen Martin:
It's not a normal size. It's a big sectional.

Kathleen Heaney:
I bet it's like 108 inches wide, or a minimum 92, or something like that. And I bet it's a deep seat. I bet the seat is like 40 or 41 inches, 42 inches, something like that. So there's a lot of material in there.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kathleen Heaney:
But that's the type of sectional where you're not-

Kathleen Martin:
It's 154. It's really long.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, 154 inches long?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. Like I said, it's a big ass couch.

Kathleen Heaney:
That's more than 12 feet long. That's huge.

Kathleen Martin:
It's going into a fancy person home.

Kathleen Heaney:
Okay. So $4,800 for a giant couch like that, actually, I'm going to say one that will last you a very long time. That's not a terrible price.

Kathleen Martin:
If you are doing well enough that you can afford a little bit more, it's a good choice.

Kathleen Heaney:
I think that sustainability is such an important topic that it's worth having a conversation about while also acknowledging that not everybody can do it because they don't have the budget to, even though they want to do it.

Kathleen Martin:
It's great to choose a sustainable option whenever you can, within reason.

Kathleen Heaney:
I look at it like it's a more responsible way to spend my money.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, okay. Cost per use.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
Kathleen knows I have a topic.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
How about this? So one of my toxic traits is, I like hobbies, right? We've talked about hobbies.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
Super into yoga to the point where it's excessive. I talk about it all the time. Brian starts to glaze over. Obsessive.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah. Well, you like yoga. It's funny that your two favorite hobbies are crazy expensive: yoga and pottery.

Kathleen Martin:
I know.

Kathleen Heaney:
It's so expensive.

Kathleen Martin:
So my problem is, when I buy something for my new hobby, I want the best of the best.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, you and me both, sister.

Kathleen Martin:
So I've had a Target yoga mat. And actually, I used the Studio's yoga mats. It's a gym, so it's like a gym chain.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
I used their yoga mat for five months, but then it was giving me a body rash.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, gym yoga mats-

Kathleen Martin:
It's funky.

Kathleen Heaney:
... are the fastest way to get ringworm.

Kathleen Martin:
Contact dermatitis. I was so itchy.

Kathleen Heaney:
Ew. Ew, ew, ew.

Kathleen Martin:
When you really think about it, you're like, "That's disgusting." So I wanted my own mat, and I wanted something nice and I did a lot of research.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah, well, I mean it's something that you do all the time.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, I do four times a week.

Kathleen Heaney:
Aka, cost per use, I get it.

Kathleen Martin:
Cost per use.

Kathleen Heaney:
Uh-huh.

Kathleen Martin:
So one of the best brands is Manduka. Their mat is $140.

Kathleen Heaney:
For a yoga mat?

Kathleen Martin:
So I end up getting it.

Kathleen Heaney:
Is it a little thicker?

Kathleen Martin:
Manduka, their pro series is a closed cell format, which means it doesn't absorb water, it doesn't absorb bacteria, and it doesn't degrade. Unlike a cheap mat or even an expensive competitor, I won't say who, on their website it says, "With regular use, they recommend replacing the mat every six months to a year."

Kathleen Heaney:
It's such a waste. Now I totally see why you wanted to get the Manduka mat.

Kathleen Martin:
I'm geeking out about the mat. But I go four times a week for an hour every time, and this yoga mat is guaranteed for life.

Kathleen Heaney:
I know you're joking about the geeking out, but this world would be a better place if we all geeked out over sustainable products like you are right now.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, agreed. If I'm going to spend a lot of money, I want to make sure the cost per use is low.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah, no, you're right. Buy it once, buy it right.

Kathleen Martin:
I'm going to practice yoga for the rest of my life, and I was kissing that mat and saying, "I love you. We're going to be together a long time."

Kathleen Heaney:
Was your form better on the mat?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, it was.

Kathleen Heaney:
You know who also loves yoga?

Kathleen Martin:
Who?

Kathleen Heaney:
The people of Denmark.

Kathleen Martin:
What?

Kathleen Heaney:
Okay. And I bring this up not only because we weirdly trend on Denmark's Apple Podcasts charts every week, but I bring it up because Denmark is actually number two right now in the world for countries that are sustainable. They used to be number one. Number one right now is Sweden, then comes the UK, then Finland, and Switzerland at number five.

Kathleen Martin:
I totally believe it.

Kathleen Heaney:
The United States is actually number 35. How pathetic is that?

Kathleen Martin:
That's sad.

Kathleen Heaney:
Something else that I don't know a whole lot about, but I want to get better at this year is figuring out what some of these sustainable certifications mean, like lead, certified B Corp, FSC certified materials. Carbon negative, I'm pretty sure I know what that means. If a company says that they're carbon negative, it's like a Hawkeye whispering in my ear at the bar that he wants to take me to bed. I'm like, "Sold. I'm done. Close out my tub, bartender." All you have to do is tell me that you're carbon negative, and I'm like fully in a hundred percent.

Kathleen Martin:
I don't understand how they do that. How do they offset all the carbon?

Kathleen Heaney:
It's all about offsetting the carbon that you produce to make your product with practices that counter your admissions. So they're net zero.

Kathleen Martin:
But how do they counter them?

Kathleen Heaney:
Maybe they plant trees. Kathleen, I don't know the specifics off the top of my head.

Kathleen Martin:
Science.

Kathleen Heaney:
I think that it's going to be a trend. We're going to see more and more companies building furniture in America like they used to, instead of overseas, because then you have more control over your factory practices. Are they environmentally sustainable? And also then you're just putting jobs into the American economy, which is really good.

Kathleen Martin:
I saw an ad on Instagram for a blanket. I don't know what it was, but it was like, "Yes, we know we're expensive, but we're worth it."

Kathleen Heaney:
Wow.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. I like that they're just leaning into it. It's like, "You're going to have to pay a little bit more, but we're better than all the other blankets around. And this is why."

Kathleen Heaney:
I'm not in the job market right now, but if I were, I would be showing them to every interview being like, "Yes, I'm a little more expensive, but this is why."

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. Oh, what was that story you were going to tell me?

Kathleen Heaney:
Do you follow on Instagram the Brownstone Boys?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah.

Kathleen Heaney:
So there's these two guys in Brooklyn and they renovate old brownstone homes. And recently, they were showing on their Instagram how they were restoring wooden floors in one of these brownstones by hand.

Kathleen Martin:
Wow.

Kathleen Heaney:
Because the floors were too thin to use an industrial sander, so they put like a shellac remover, a paint remover to get up all of the old varnishing on the floor.

Kathleen Martin:
I saw that.

Kathleen Heaney:
And they were doing it by hand. And it is a little bit more work up front, but it is so much more sustainable.

Kathleen Martin:
Well, it's a beautiful parquet floor, which means all little pieces of wood that have been nailed into the patterns and really unique and interesting. They're coming to Meridian Experience.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, they are?

Kathleen Martin:
The design conference Kathleen and I are going to. Yep.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, my god.

Kathleen Martin:
They're a speaker.

Kathleen Heaney:
I'm going to fan girl out. And I don't even like the term fan girl. What's like a more neutral term for that? Fan human out, fan follower out. Do you have a smart thermostat in your house?

Kathleen Martin:
I do. We have an ecobee.

Kathleen Heaney:
And you like it?

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, yeah. For some reason, tried the Nest, the wires weren't working. But yeah, the ecobee works. It's on my phone. I have an app, I program it. So when we're away, we turn it down. At nighttime, turn it down, things like that.

Kathleen Heaney:
I have the Nest and it's basically the same thing. And I will never go back to a regular thermostat ever again.

Kathleen Martin:
No, there's no need.

Kathleen Heaney:
The Nest, I'm sure the Ecobee does this too, it learns your behavior.

Kathleen Martin:
No, it doesn't do that.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh. So the Nest knows at three o'clock I like to turn the AC up a notch and then eventually it starts doing it for me. I really like that.

Kathleen Martin:
Kathleen is hot now.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
Cool her down.

Kathleen Heaney:
Another great sustainable practice to implement in your home that's really easy is LED light bulbs.

Kathleen Martin:
I feel like back in the day when they first came out, they were more expensive. They took a while to turn on. Now I feel like almost every bulb is, or should be, LED. They're really cheap. They last forever. They're good.

Kathleen Heaney:
I saw though a designer on Instagram the other day, or was it a podcast? Who's Nate Berkus' husband? Jeremiah? Jeremiah Brent.

Kathleen Martin:
Okay.

Kathleen Heaney:
I think it was him, but don't hold me to this, he was saying that he hates LED light bulbs.

Kathleen Martin:
Because they're too white?

Kathleen Heaney:
Because they're too white and he likes soft lighting.

Kathleen Martin:
GTFO. They have different warmth of LEDs. You got to get the warm one.

Kathleen Heaney:
I know.

Kathleen Martin:
They have ones that can meet any color. So, no.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah. I say 99% of light bulbs in your house should probably be LED, and then one or two lamps... I don't think my rechargeable light bulbs from Amazon are LED, but they provide that soft glow in certain places where I want a touch of ambiance.

Kathleen Martin:
Yes.

Kathleen Heaney:
One thing I actually learned when doing research for this episode, I learned this from the Environmental Protection Agency, which is a governmental website, so Bible.

Kathleen Martin:
As one does.

Kathleen Heaney:
You can buy salvaged paint.

Kathleen Martin:
What?

Kathleen Heaney:
So excess paint can get mixed together and then recolored.

Kathleen Martin:
How?

Kathleen Heaney:
Companies do it. I don't know. I Googled salvaged paint near me and Benjamin Moore store came up, where if you have paint that you aren't going to finish using and you've already done your project and you know you're not going to need to do touchups in the future, you can bring it to the paint store where you bought it and they'll take back and recycle paint to make new colors and things.

Kathleen Martin:
Okay. I'm all about bringing your paint back to the paint store because I know disposing paint is like a thing.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, do you know how to do it?

Kathleen Martin:
No.

Kathleen Heaney:
At least in New Jersey, this is how you do it. You have to pour, for latex paint, pour the paint out and let it dry on something. I usually put it in the trash and mix it up with my trash that way. That's probably horrible for the environment, but it's what I've read to do online. As long as the bucket is empty and dry, then you can recycle your paint can as normal.

Kathleen Martin:
Okay. But yeah, I thought there was something more specific for the paint itself, but I have no idea. The paint just lives in the basement.

Kathleen Heaney:
And then eventually you open up the can and you're like, "This is hard as a rug and I can't use it anymore."

Kathleen Martin:
It's like it's separated into the oil and the pigment, like an abandoned salad dressing at the back of a fridge.

Kathleen Heaney:
And last but not least, we've touched upon this before, but it fits right into a conversation about sustainability: reusing your decor creatively instead of just going out to buy something new every time.

Kathleen Martin:
I recently put up new wallpaper in my living room, I will be revealing it this week on Instagram. And it changed the whole aesthetic of the room. I took down every piece of art and then I brought out every single piece of art I had, it was like 50 things from the basement, and then redecorated. I even listened to you.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
I was against it, and I took things off my bookshelf, I made it better.

Kathleen Heaney:
See, you have to pull everything off and then put things back and you'll get a totally new feeling room. Did you discover artwork that you forgot you had and you're like-

Kathleen Martin:
Absolutely.

Kathleen Heaney:
... "Oh my God, I don't even remember buying this."

Kathleen Martin:
I am so smart. Yes. I have a print that says, "Stop throwing tomatoes at me. I'm just trying to tell you I love you." I forgot I had that. I put it out. I have a print that says, "Be nice to me. I have diarrhea."

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, my goodness.

Kathleen Martin:
I love it. So true.

Kathleen Heaney:
Life is too short to get art that's always so serious. I was listening to the Debbie Millman podcast Design Matters the other day, and she was interviewing somebody who says they take a piece of nature home everywhere they go. And then they use it to decorate their homes. And he was saying how he took home leaves from Paris.

Kathleen Martin:
Oh, my god. Sometimes that's illegal, so check with your-

Kathleen Heaney:
I know. I know.

Kathleen Martin:
... whatever, EPA.

Kathleen Heaney:
But I love the idea of going out into your backyard and cutting some branches and putting it in a vase. I think that's a really good sustainable way to decorate your house.

Kathleen Martin:
Very trendy, check for ants. Something that I love to do to be sustainable is to reuse old fabric in other ways. So old sheets.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yes.

Kathleen Martin:
And old curtains for drop cloths.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, my goodness. This is the best trick ever.

Kathleen Martin:
I was painting my radiator cover yesterday, which went horribly, by the way, and I had an old IKEA curtain as my drop cloth.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah, just shower curtains. If it has mildew on it or you really can't use it in your shower anymore, toss it in the laundry and put it in the garage. Because I can't tell you how many times I've sprayed painted things. I'm like, "This is a garage. It doesn't matter." And then I end up just getting paint all over the floor, and having an old shower curtain would've been come in handy at that point in time.

Kathleen Martin:
Yes.

Kathleen Heaney:
Okay, let's do our social shout out. What was that account you were showing me before?

Kathleen Martin:
I only just found this account through a reel. It is @LoveHeyLola.

Kathleen Heaney:
L-O-V-E-H-A-Y-L-O-L-A?

Kathleen Martin:
Yes.

Kathleen Heaney:
Okay.

Kathleen Martin:
Okay. So it came up when I was scrolling reels. She is so sustainable. Not so. So first, picks up straws that are discarded on the beach, then she sanitizes them, obviously because ew.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
Then she turns the straws into these really cute flower earrings. They're just like very textured.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh.

Kathleen Martin:
She cuts the plastic and it has multiple layers.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh.

Kathleen Martin:
The flowers look like a carnation, and it threads on a hoop.

Kathleen Heaney:
Cool.

Kathleen Martin:
So very cool. You think, "Great. Oh my god, she did so much." Not done.

Kathleen Heaney:
What?

Kathleen Martin:
So where she cut out the flowers, she has the excess. From there, she turns that into tiny plastic confetti.

Kathleen Heaney:
Okay.

Kathleen Martin:
And then she turns that into a separate earring in resin.

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh my god.

Kathleen Martin:
Not done yet. Woo.

Kathleen Heaney:
How is there anything left after she makes it into confetti resin earrings?

Kathleen Martin:
So then she has to sand the resin earrings to get a smooth surface, which makes tiny microplastic particles in it-

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, my god.

Kathleen Martin:
... in a bin that she catches.

Kathleen Heaney:
Yeah.

Kathleen Martin:
So then she carefully puts that into jars and uses it as pigment.

Kathleen Heaney:
What?

Kathleen Martin:
And then pours that into different resin-

Kathleen Heaney:
Oh, my god.

Kathleen Martin:
... to make another earring.

Kathleen Heaney:
This lady is dedicated.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah. But how cool that somebody's garbage makes three different types of earrings?

Kathleen Heaney:
It's wild to think when you just think a little bit outside the box. Imagine if the whole world thought about sustainability like that in every facet of life.

Kathleen Martin:
Yeah, it's amazing. So definitely go check her out. Her name is Jessica Thomas McGhee, @LoveHeyLola.

Kathleen Heaney:
Well, Jessica is aging this earth in reverse.

Kathleen Martin:
Woo-hoo.

Kathleen Heaney:
Giving the earth injectable Botox into the highest mountains.

Kathleen Martin:
Okay.

Kathleen Heaney:
If you want to follow this podcast and everything that we talked about and more, it's on kathleencandoit.com. Just search Kathleen Can Do It on all of our socials and check out our Facebook group.

Kathleen Martin:
Hot and popping in there. What's going on lately?

Kathleen Heaney:
Springtime is here. People are refreshing their outdoor spaces, which we're going to have episodes on in the coming weeks. We were actually going to do an episode on outdoor decor today, but we were like, "Nah, let's do Earth Day." More topical.
Anyway, Jeff, want to give a shout-out to Jeff because he posted pictures of his pergola on his outdoor patio. I believe Jeff lives in Ohio. It is gorgeous. And he was talking with other people in the group about the type of wood he used and how he went with a more expensive pergola brand because he wanted to make sure that his lumber was going to last a long time.

Kathleen Martin:
So smart.

Kathleen Heaney:
I love the blue doors that he has in his backyard. Really makes his house pop. So Jeff, hello. How are you doing? Good job on your yard. Loving it.
If you want to follow me, Kathleen Heaney, you can do so at @KathleenLovesColor.

Kathleen Martin:
You can follow me, Kathleen Martin, @CreateAColorfulLife.

Kathleen Heaney:
And we hope everybody has a healthy and fruitful Earth Day.

Kathleen Martin:
Fruitful, ew, gross. Happy Earth Day. Bye.

Kathleen Heaney:
And don't forget, if Kathleen can do it, you can do it too.

Kathleen Martin:
If Kathleen can do it, you can do it too.