As a social order, we have become more and more aware of the need to “live green”.  This means something different to everyone, but generally, it tends to mean that we are using products & services that are doing no harm to the environment in the process of manufacturing & delivery.  Using genuinely environmentally friendly products is a catchy endeavor.  Perhaps a product is constructed out of natural products, but is being made at the sacrifice of an area of land or an ecosystem.  For instance, furniture constructed from wood from the jungle is all natural, but requires the loss of valuable tropical rain forest trees that cannot be replaced.  This can apply to all products, including curtains.  In order to choose eco friendly curtains, there are plentiful factors you could choose to consider. 

Umpteen variations of children’s curtains are constructed to block out light.  In the course of shutting out light, they are generally blocking out heat as well.  On a hot day, this is really important to our general comfort inside our homes.  It saves money for us in the cost of running the air conditioner, & your child sleeps better in a dark, comfortable room.  Take the time to consider, also, how good this is for the environment.  Our electricity comes from nuclear power plants, so although turning on a light or the air conditioner creates no direct pollution, every unit of electricity generated emits by-product into the air.  The creation of electricity also requires the burning of coal, which is a non-renewable resource.  Therefore when we take steps toward diminishing our utilization of electricity, we are taking steps toward preserving our environment.  This makes the Madras Blackout Panel at potterybarnkids.com an ”green” curtain because it reduces the desire need for electricity. 

The “Natural” Bamboo Curtain at hulaisland.com is another illustration of an ”green” curtain.  Handmade from real strings of bamboo by Vietnamese craftsmen, these asian curtains hold no hazardous chemicals.  Because they are handmade, there is no factory, using up land and giving off toxic byproducts from the manufacture of this curtain.  Additionally, in buying this beautiful product, you are helping people succeed in supporting their families with their craft.  The curtain is large enough to cover up a wide picture window or a door way.  It hangs in strips, so you are able to walk through it, rather than opening it when you want to walk through.  Hang it in your house & you will enjoy the natural feel of the Orient. 

In these cases, buying environmentally friendly curtains can also add to the beauty of your apartment & to your own personal comfort.  There is a variety of products such as these that you can buy to make your apartment more environmentally friendly. Often the qualities that make draperies eco friendly, like the ones cited here, are also the ones that make them so attractive to us in the first place.  The comfort derived from a curtain that blocks out the sun on a hot day is obviously a positive effect to being environmentally conscious.