This seems like a typical day in a typical home. Designer Steve Pallrand is setting the table and cleaning up toys, but this home is anything from typical.

"This cabinet is made from a tree we had to take down," Pallrand said.  

The cabinets in their office actually used to be the tree that was taken down when building this house. This is only one small way Pallrand's home is sustainable. Every nook and cranny uses a greener, carbon-free technique.

Even the walls are green. Instead of using traditional plaster, there is straw from the park right next door in the plaster, which is based on an adobe technique.

"By using straw, you are replacing industrial-made material with natural material; therefore, lowering your carbon footprint," Pallrand said. 

This was Pallrand's goal when building his house from the ground up. He wanted to make sure it was carbon free.

He said that means you are not adding new carbon into the environment. 

"With new wood, you have to mill and transport it to market. The industrial production that goes into making materials for the house adds carbon into the environment," Pallrand said. 

If you use old materials, you won't be producing new carbon.

He does this in his daily life as a designer and owner of Home Front Build where he almost always incorporates reclaimed materials in his projects.

For example, his island was made from old church pews from Santa Monica that would have been otherwise taken to the dump.

"We realized that the church pews were made from beautiful old growth Philippine mahogany that was probably imported to Los Angeles in the 1920s. We salvaged all the church pews and made a lot of millwork in the house," Pallrand said.  

The list goes on and on. Even the bones of the house, which you can't see, are all taken from a house that was demolished nearby, further reducing the carbon footprint.

"The pollution emitted to mill this material was emitted 100 years ago, so we are not creating new pollution with the framing of this house," Pallrand said.

The entire house also runs on solar panels and is fully electric. 

Of course it is not common to build your own home, but Pallrand has some tips on how you can live a greener lifestyle. You can get electric appliances, use less water, buy local materials, and regulate how much air and heat you use.

He said there are many little ways you can reduce your carbon footprint and help the environment. Check out his website Carbon Shack to see your carbon emission.