Materials, Sustainability & Your Environment
Home Friendly Finishes
When he started out, Mike made the commitment to use only ultra low VOC wood finishes, striving for zero VOC when possible. These finishes include hardwax oils by both OSMO and Rubio as well as water based finishes from Aqua Coat and Seal Once. The process of ebonizing woods such as oak and black walnut uses a mix of white vinegar and steel wool that turns the wood black. To create an even deep black, Mike uses a tea made from Quebracho extract. This is an entirely natural process and produces no harmful chemicals or fumes.
Sticking with his goal of focusing on our immediate environment he coined the term “Home Friendly’ finishes. This means that the finishes and glues used do not ‘Off-Gas’, a term that refers to the chemical vapours given off by many treatments and finishes found in todays products, which can be detrimental to the air quality in your home.
Materials
At MRD we aim to use only North American hardwoods, species such as Ash, Oak, Black Walnut and occasionally Elm and Eastern Maple. These are sustainably grown on privately managed lands in the US. It is in the best interests of these landowners to manage and harvest their trees using longstanding sustainable techniques in order to preserve their investment. More information on hardwoods exported from the US to Canada by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) members. can be found in this AHEC document.
Light
The benefits of LED’s when it comes to reducing energy use has been well documented and they are generally considered the standard light engine used extensively in both homes and work spaces across the country. They have really paved the way to the incredible array of innovative and creative lighting solutions see in the market today and in 2017 were attributed to the reduction of environmental CO2 production in the US by 225 million metric tons. The US Department of Energy’s forecast on solid state lighting can be seen here.
Less well known is the advent of the OLED light engine. This is the latest in solid state light emitting technology and comes with an impressive environmental footprint as well as many benefits to your home including:
No blue light risk
No UV
Safe for eyes and skin
Circadian rhythm friendly
Glare-free
No flicker
Naturally diffuse
But don’t just take my word for it, check out these resources below to see the benefits of using OLED’s in your home, and remember, at MRD we can custom design OLED lighting to suit your needs.