Sustained Commitment

Library gives Falk an environmental outlet

By Janine Anderson

Lyn Falk uses the Library of Sustainability at the Urban Ecology Center to share her knowledge of eco-friendly materials. Photo by Janine Anderson

The Library of Sustainability at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee started in Lyn Falk’s office.

Over the years, Falk, who is an interior designer, amassed a collection of eco-friendly materials. Initially, the retail clients for her Thiensville-based Retailworks Inc. company weren’t interested in sustainable design, she said.

Their focus was on designing buildings that would move products fast.

In 2003, she opened Thiensville-based Solterra Studios, which she called her hippie child, as a way to channel her interest in environmentally friendly design materials.

Her personal library of materials — books, catalogs and product samples — was at Solterra for clients to look through. Two years ago, some of her clients told her she should find a way to make the resources centrally located so more people could have access to the information she collected.

About six months after that, Falk said, she ran into Ken Leinbach, executive director of the UEC. He had space for a library, and Falk decided to move her collection to the center.

The basement room that houses the library has education panels with things to look at and touch, like organic cotton, recycled plastic padding, river stones, compact fluorescent light bulbs and concrete countertops.

The library has information on eco-friendly design materials, like fabrics, paints and flooring. It also has building material options, including siding, insulation and ventilation systems.

“Part of the purpose is to let people know the options there are,” Falk said.

“The second thing is to help them find where they can get them.”

There is information about energy-efficient products and designs and ways to incorporate alternative energy sources into a building. Materials in the library cater to just about every kind of sustainable-design interest there is — low-emissions products to improve the health of people using the building, energy-efficient products to reduce the amount of energy used in the building, and products made from recycled or renewable resources.

“It’s all a matter of priority,” Falk said. “Some are concerned about energy; others are all about health.”

Falk found herself drawn to sustainable products after she and her husband decided to remodel a 900-square-foot cabin in the mid-1990s.

“We said let’s do all the work ourselves,” she said. “We didn’t know about the toxicity of stains and coverings.”

She found out about that toxicity quickly as she got very sick and developed an allergy to formaldehyde. Now, she can only spend about 15 minutes in a newly constructed building that has medium-grade fiberboard.

“I researched as much as I could,” she said. “I asked vendors if they had anything healthy.”

Early on, there was little to find, she said. It’s a little different now.

“I’m thrilled the world has recognized this,” she said. “It’s reached a tipping point. We started with five materials in the library 10 years ago. Now look.”

She has shelf after shelf packed with books and samples on everything from building structures to the kinds of fabrics people might choose to cover a sofa.

The library is in the Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E. Park Place, Milwaukee. It is staffed from noon to 2 p.m. on Sundays and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays. For more information, call 414-964-8505.