Green Vessel Goodness
July 17th, 2007 by Marcos
VitraStone offers Eco Friendly sinks and surfaces made from 70% - 85% recycled content such as recycled glass and fly ash blended with a proprietary mix of ceramic cement. They claim to be twice as strong as their concrete competitors (I am guessing they do a lot of weight lifting and outdoor activities where they are based in Colorado. . . . oh wait, I think they mean the product is twice as strong). With low embodied energy and no off-gassing, Vitrastone products will even help obtain LEED points in residential and commercial projects. Definitely Green goodness here. Easily customized to almost any shape and color. More details available at VitraStone.com
Caulking is something just about every homeowner finds themselves doing at some point. Usually it entails lots of paper towels and results in caulk all over your fingers. Thankfully the team at Dap (makers of many caulking formulations) has devised a tool to make a smooth professional bead. All without coating your fingers with caulk. The foam tip smooths and finishes caulk beads and works with silicone or latex caulking. It is reusable or disposable depending on how messy and environmentally conscious you are feeling. Available from home improvement stores, or online from 
Michael Singer over at 
Every once in a while I come across a home improvement business and think, “why didn’t I think of that?” That was the case when I saw a recent advertorial for a San Diego company called Mirror Makeovers. Depressingly, many of us have hideously ugly plain mirrors. Admit it, plain mirrors are plain boring. We have them too and I only contemplated how much better they could look after checking out this company. Currently they serve San Diego and Orange Counties, but they appear to have plans for a vast Mirror Makeover empire, soon spanning the entire globe. From richly hand crafted, hand painted Italian woods to superbly crafted American designs, they have a multitude of frames to suit very diverse tastes. No prices are listed online, however the company can be reached at 
Although there are a lot of different types of tile out there, sadly many of them are just plain boring. Thankfully the team over at Green River Stone Company is here to save us from the tile doldrums. Green River uses fossil-rich calcium carbonate shale from their own private quarry in Southwestern Wyoming. Do not ask me how they got their own private quarry, but I think I would like one just because it would sound cool. “Oh these tiles? Yes, they are from my quarry.” All while smoking a pipe and lounging in a Hugh Hefner style robe. Anyway, back to the stone. Green River uses stone, deposited 50 million years ago as sediment in a large freshwater lake. They then produce individual fossil specimens, artistic fossil murals, and other products for museums, private collectors, interior designers and architects. Prices available by request (which I’m guessing means more than $5 a square foot). Hey, it took earth 50 million years to make these, so they probably should not be cheap anyway. You can check out some of their beautiful tile, fossil and stone-work at 
Sometimes any old toilet just won’t do. There’s a big difference between a 60’s vintage generic toilet, and a true classic throne. My friend Darren recently went off on a mild tirade about how you just can’t find good quality toilets with vintage style. And Darren has been keeping his vintage throne alive with all kinds of in-the-tank “MacGyver” style resuscitation, just so he doesn’t have to replace his relic with a warehouse store toilet clone. The people over at Mac The Antique Plumber might have just the thing to solve Darren’s throne woes. The Antique Plumber offers a 200+ page catalog of vintage style plumbing fixtures and accessories. They even have those old toilets where the tank mounts high on the wall, just so that the flushing water can hit warp speed by the time it slams into the bowl! Their product line includes old-school toilets, sinks, cool bathtubs, and accessories.