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Interior designer Yesely Love of Canaima Designs used live plant material in a wall treatment for her client at Blackbuck Resources in Houston. Live plants help improve air quality and add to the quality of life of those working in the offices during the day.

Natural materials such as a wood butcher block surface look great in a kitchen. Interior designer Yesely Love of Canaima Design has this island counter finished only with linseed oil instead of varnish or other materials that have volatile organic compounds.

Interior designer Yesely Love of Canaima Design uses zero or low-VOC paints in her design projects, including this girl’s bedroom. Regular paints can take six months to two years to off-gass their volatile organic compounds.

Interior designer Yesely Love of Canaima Designs uses natural materials, such as the iron base and wood top for this conference room at the offices of her client, Blackbuck Resources.

Interior designer Yesely Love of Canaima Designs used live plant material in a wall treatment for her client at Blackbuck Resources in Houston. Live plants help improve air quality and add to the quality of life of those working in the offices during the day.

Americans have been increasingly interested in creating less waste and being kinder to the planet. If we’ve learned anything from the coronavirus pandemic, it’s that our own homes need to be healthier.

Houston interior designer Yésely Love of Canaima Design spoke at a recent Access Design event — co-hosted by the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Design District — about creating healthier and more sustainable homes and workplaces.

Using an air purifier is a great start to cleaning up the air immediately around you, but Love urges homeowners to look for furniture and materials made from recycled goods, with fewer chemicals and more natural materials. Here are things to think about:

Trees and plants — living things — are nature’s air purifier. They do the same job indoors, as well. Love encourages all of her clients to incorporate live plants into their décor.

Dramatic installations might involve live walls using lichen or moss, plants that are easy to install and thrive in our humid climate. Our homes might be air-conditioned to dehumidify our living spaces, but many offices have these live walls, and they love the warmer air when air conditioning is altered on weekends, when many offices aren’t used.

Natural fiber rugs, such as sisal or jute, are one way to go, but Love noted that great strides have been made in creating durable and attractive eco-friendly flooring.

Marmoleum — a brand of vinyl tile marketed as CO2 neutral and phthalate free — is made with a smaller carbon footprint by using natural renewable materials and some recycled materials. While Love has used this product in commercial design projects, she said it can work in homes, too.

Eco-friendly carpets and even cork flooring — recyclable and organic — are also good options, she said.

Most understand that paints give off fumes, though even after that initial new-paint smell has worn off, they can continue off-gassing for six months to two years. Low VOC (volatile organic compounds) or zero VOC paints are best options for healthier indoor air.

Zero VOC paints, however, tend to cost more. Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint with Air Purifying Technology is listed online for $71.99 a gallon, while its SuperPaint with Sanitizing Technology is $73.99 a gallon. Benjamin Moore’s ben Waterborne interior paint is $48.99 a gallon.

Wallpaper’s comeback is still going strong. Look for options with certification such as Greenguard Gold. Specifically, wallpaper that is printed with water-based ink or low to zero VOC. Many are made with metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium or tin, so make sure they’re free of these.

The well-known UK-based Farrow & Ball brand uses its own low and zero VOC paints. Graham & Brown, York Wallcoverings and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Home are other popular brands touted as low VOC and healthier for the home.

Cork can also be used as a wallcovering because of its acoustic qualities, helping reduce noise in a room or protect it from exterior noise.

Several organizations rate home products for air quality, energy efficiency and sustainability. Certifications to watch for include LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), Green Building Initiative (GBI), Energy Star, BIFMA (for commercial furniture), FloorScore, Green Seal, ISO 14000 and Greenguard.

Diane Cowen has worked at the Houston Chronicle since 2000 and currently its architecture and home design writer. Prior to working for the Chronicle, she worked at the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune and at the Shelbyville (Ind.) News. She is a graduate of Purdue University and is the author of a cookbook, "Sunday Dinners: Food, Family and Faith from our Favorite Pastors."

Solar companies, homeowners and trade groups say the time involved in getting permits to connect panels to CenterPoint’s service area has gone from one month to six.