E’s Green Home Picks: Airing Out
Room-Brightening Baskets, Air Purifiers and Smarter Surge Protectors
A Little Aloha
By the front door, in the bathroom, in the kid’s room—a stylish, sturdy basket is one of a home’s most necessary de-cluttering items. These baskets ($24-$30) made by Hawaiian-based Etsy shop ManilaExtract from recycled burlap coffee bags and lined with a Plumeria floral print are sturdy enough to stand up on their own and a cheery replacement for piles of knickknacks.
Clearing the Air
The bad news: Allergy season is officially in full swing and it’s both starting sooner and lasting longer. The good news: You can shut your windows and get a handle on your indoor air quality with the right air purifier. Airwise Air Purifiers ($449/up to 350 sq ft-$549/up to 1,500 sq ft) oxidize irritants and pollutants (including dust and mold); they’re silent (no fans); and they have no filters to clean or replace.
waterwise.com
Banish Energy Suckers
It’s time our surge protectors smarten up. That’s the idea behind the Conserve Smart AV ($29.99) from Belkin, a surge protector that lets you turn off up to five entertainment system components at once (the TV, the DVD player, the gaming console, etc.) when you hit the power button on your TV remote. Two outlets are for devices (like the DVR) that need to stay on.