The folks over at The Daily Green have some great advice for keeping your 4th of July celebrations environmentally kosher this year. From fireworks to grilling they’ve covered it all, ensuring no excuses. Can’t imagine a 4th without the fireworks? Well check out the alternatives to see how it can be done.

Still need some inspiration? Read their short article, provided below, for a patriotic push.

This July 4th, Declare Your Independence

When in the Course of Human Events, It Becomes Necessary to Go Green…

Revolution is sometimes necessary, if never comfortable. Thomas Jefferson knew this when he and his revolutionary colleagues laid out their grievances before dissolving the bands that connected them with the King of England. We celebrate the success of that revolution every year, and for good reason.

This Fourth of July, 232 years later, there’s another revolution afoot, with the potential to shake up the way America does business, interacts with other nations and pursues happiness. “Green” is more than a buzzword. It’s a path forward for a great nation seeking to produce its own energy, shore up its security and provide sustainable prosperity for its people.

Jefferson didn’t spend a lot of ink on energy policy in the Declaration of Independence, but a selective reading of the document almost sounds like a treatise on sustainability. (At least, the whole argument for untangling ourselves from that rotten King of England is framed as aligning human behavior with natural law and the “powers of the earth.”)

So, this Fourth of July, start participating in the next revolution, one that embraces good-old American ingenuity and hard work on the path toward a brighter future for our great nation.

Alternative Building Center, in Eureka, CA, celebrated their first full year in business on June 7th. With live product demonstrations, live music, drinks and hor d’oeuvres, there was certainly no lack of festivities here.

Owned and operated by Anna Lee and Hector Osorio, the idea of Alternative Building Center came about from the lack of green building products in their area. Before ABC, the only way to get green building materials to Eureka was via the Internet, adding long and costly shipping.

ABC supplies a huge array of green products, from cotton fiber insulation to cork flooring and of course, American Clay. To learn more about Alternative Building Center, visit abcgreenbuilding.com.

From all of us here at American Clay, congratulations to ABC on a successful first year!

American Clay recently took part in plastering a traditional hogan on the Ramah Navajo Reservation in Pine Hill, NM.

Recently rewarded with a grant to build a straw bale hogan using locally harvested Ponderosa Pine, the project is an attempt to bring the Navajo elders and young children together in a traditional setting to exchange stories and Navajo culture. The Ramah Continuing Education Department, along with The Navajo Weavers Guild, plan to use the hogan as a meeting area and classroom, offering traditional classes in language, weaving and Navajo culture.

In traditional Navajo culture the hogan is the center of life. Inside, the design and layout of the space mimics their traditional religion. The door faces east to welcome the new day and the fireplace is located in the middle.

The straw bales were covered with a site-based clay plaster. This base clay plaster was not very smooth, but high spots to low spots did not vary more that 1/16″. By using the Enjarre-Quartzite product in the window wells, more natural light is pulled into the building with only one coat. The rest of the walls were finished with a blend of Loma and Marittimo.

In Navajo mythology, the “white shell” plays a pivotal role, acting as an instrument for creation in the story of White Shell Woman. Because of this intimate connection, the elders in the Weavers Guild wanted the shell-which is the sand in the Marittimo product-incorporated into the plaster. The Loma-Marittimo blend allowed us to incorporate the shell into the plaster and created an amazing finish. Easy to work with, we were able to do one coat of the blend over the base clay plaster.
Tim White
Product Development
American Clay Enterprises, LLC

American Clay was recently featured on HGTV’s Design to Sell. The episode will be airing once more, so make sure to tune in!

July 14, 2008

American Clay is heading off to Charleston, South Carolina as a vendor in SALI’s 23rd Annual Stenciling, Decorative Arts and Faux Finishing Convention and Exposition.

Put on by SALI (Stencil Artisans League, Inc.), the convention aims to teach, show and inform people on the art of stenciling and decorative painting. With numerous classes, lectures and vendors, no doubt the show will inspire a great many to pursue deeper the arts that SALI is dedicated to preserving.

If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by and say hello!

Sprig.com, a website dedicated to promoting the “glamour in green”, recently gave their video office a greenover. The first step? An American Clay accent wall done by Bettencourt Green Building Supplies. Watch the transformation transpire in their 2-minute video documenting the event by clicking here.

I confess when I first heard about American Clay I thought, “Okay, it’s only a Southwest thing but it won’t go over in the Pacific Northwest.”

But then I heard it was successful in Southern California and I thought, “Okay, but it won’t go over in the Pacific Northwest.”

But then I heard it was successful in Northern California, and I thought, “Okay but it won’t go over in the Pacific Northwest.”

But then I heard it was successful in Portland, Oregon, and I thought, “Okay, maybe it will work in the Pacific Northwest, but I still just don’t get it.”

As employees and customers in the Seattle market began to clamor for the product, I realized it didn’t matter what I thought, and reluctant as I still was, I decided we’d better bring the product in.

And then, when a designer suggested using American Clay in Tucson Gold on my very own house, I reluctantly agreed.

Having been humbled now many times over, I am firmly convinced American Clay is a transformative product. I have seen people’s body language change when they come into a room done in American Clay. They may not be able to initially understand why, but they know that something is different; something is magical about an American Clay room. The light, the sound, the visual integrity is unparalleled. “I feel like I’m in Italy,” is a comment I’ve heard repeatedly.

Visitors to our house walk up to our American Clay walls with an awe and open-handed inquisitiveness and ask, “What is this wall surface?”

I now say, “It’s American Clay, a magical product, pure and simple.”

—Timothy N. Taylor, Ecohaus President and Chief Executive Officer

American Clay was featured as Jump Into Tomorrow’s Technology of the Day yesterday, June 2nd!

Go here to read the article and see some beautiful pictures.