Shrink to Fit
Modular Appliances Made for Small Spaces
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Gaggenau‘s Vario 200 series delivers a big bang for the buck. If space is limited, you can get full-size service from their line of space-saving modular cooktops.
The line of 12-inch modules includes eight special-purpose appliances, high-tech in stainless steel, with new-style, sturdy control knobs set in a glowing orange ring. In the 200 series, surfaces are finished in shot-blasted aluminum, gleaming, light and robust, with top-mounted control knobs. Modules include such gourmet extras as a barbecue grill, in-counter steamer, deep fryer, a wok and even an induction cooktop.
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Less then Zero
Paint So Safe You Could Eat It
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
But why would you want to, when it looks so great on your walls?
Green Planet Paints is a boutique color house that makes paint in small batches using clay-based pigments developed by the Mayans over 1,000 years ago. They use environmentally responsible ingredients — no petrochemicals and no synthetic dyes, just clay pigments and soy resins. So when they say their paint is zero VOC, they mean it literally, unlike some other paints that can be called zero VOC because they fall below the EPA’s limit of 5 grams per liter.
The environmental footprint of a zero VOC paint can also include synthetic materials to control flow, skinning, settling and so on. The folks at Green Planet like to compare the difference between their paint and standard commercial paint to “the difference between home-made spaghetti sauce made from fresh organic tomatoes, organic virgin olive oil, garlic and herbs fresh from the garden, and salt and pepper. Now compare that to a bottle of conventional canned sauce. [It] may contain all kinds of ingredients such as sweeteners, color stabilizers, thickeners, and preservatives you would never choose to add to your own sauce.”
Green Planet keeps its paints simple and even displays the ingredients right on the can. The range of vibrant and subtle colors include Tandoori Red, Aztec Gold, Glacier Blue and Wasabi Green. The closest retailer is Greenspace in Santa Cruz, or you can purchase online at greenplanetpaints.com. The site has a cool feature that lets you drag paint chips onto a “whiteboard” and compare them side by side.
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