Jay Vallis
A&E Reporter

Janice Clements has turned interior decorating into a profitable and environmentally friendly business.

The Humber grad said decorating green can be hard, due to price and availability, but Clements Interiors tries to use green products as much as they can.

Her business does everything from reupholstering furniture to using soy-based foams and bamboo products.

“When I first began touting the benefits of using 100 per cent wool versus the petroleum based products, I did it purely for environmental reasons,” said Clements.

Using products like soy-based foam and wool do not only benefit the environment but the client too, as they last much longer, she said.

“There are times that the green products can be difficult to work with, so we tend to use those fabrics in the more modern settings,” she said.

Clements Interiors started in 2001, when Clements graduated from Humber. Since then, she has been very loyal to her school.

“I only hire Humber grads,” She said. “I have three working for me now.”

Interior Design grad Ashley Warbois has been with Clements Interiors for two months.

“To be able to find companies that have worked with Humber students and appreciate the education we have is really nice,” said Warbois.

With the booming condo craze, Clements averages about 40 per cent of her clients are residents. Although she finds it is profitable to work with condos, they are also the cause of major waste.

 “It’s beyond the actual building itself. It is more to do with the garbage they produce just in putting the building up.”

To set off more waste, Clements showcases her environmental design strategies to Toronto households on CityLine’s Home Day Panel. There she answers questions from the audience and shows ‘before and after’ condo interiors.

As for general advice on decorating your home while being green, Clements suggests, “using recycled fabric and natural based materials.”

But this year it is  easier to decorate green.

One of the paints that Clements Interiors uses, called LoVo, is made with organic compounds. It will  launch on Earth Day.

Clements will be on CityLine next in May to talk about condo decorating.