What is "Green Furniture"
The process of furniture manufacturing, if not carefully undertaken, can
harm the environment. When selecting "green furniture", you should look for
products that utilize lumber from renewable wood resources or select furniture
made from recycled materials, following principles of
Green Design.
Many furniture companies have strict policies regarding the use of wood from
threatened or endangered species of trees, many of which are found in rain
forests. In some cases federal and state laws restrict the use of certain woods
for furniture construction. Some species, such as maple and oak, are easier to
replenish than other rare woods, such as mahogany, teak, and rosewood. Wood
species that are endangered but are grown specifically for furniture industries
and replenished are often used only as fine thin veneers. These woods may be
farmed as plantation-grown lumber or in a sustainable forest. More plentiful
wood by-products, such as particleboard, are used for the veneer backing.
According to Design Solutions magazine, the Tropical Forest Foundation is one
organization that works to educate consumers and producers about the benefits of
conservation and forest management. One of their primary goals is to educate
individuals and companies on the benefits of low-impact logging.
Proper selection of green furniture also includes ensuring the items have safe,
environmentally friendly finishes. The process of applying paint to furniture can
cause the release of toxic volatile organic chemicals, or VOCs, into the
air. These solvents are carried into the exhaust stacks and released directly
into the atmosphere. VOCs contribute to smog and harm the ozone layer, allowing
damaging ultraviolet rays to reach the earth.
The Clean Air Act passed by Congress in 1990 requires companies to reduce these
harmful emissions. Some companies have developed alternative painting processes
to reduce emissions. At an Interior Design Educators Council conference,
Elizabeth Rylan and Gordon Kerby outlined several ways this can be accomplished.
For example, paint can be applied to wood as it rides on a conveyor belt,
reducing the VOCs emitted into the air; metal furniture can be given an
electrical charge and coated with paint of the opposite charge, bonding the two
together electrically. Additionally, substituting water-based stains and natural
coatings for paint, and using carbon filters can also lessen the release of
VOCs.
Selecting Green Furniture
As demonstrated by latest trends, our days a lot of people expressing desire to
bring outdoor furniture indoors. We are hoping this trend will continue as a
healthy direction for the furniture. If you decorating your home in
country style or
cottage style these type of
furniture is perfect for you. Whicker, rattan, teak, wrought-iron, and
hand-hammered metal furniture that previously was considered
for outdoor use only making its way into interior spaces, bringing freshness and
cheerfulness of outdoors inside our homes. Hopefully, as people become more
ecologically conscious, this interrelationship between outside and inside will
be fully embraced. Woven-reed, cane and rattan furniture finds its way into the
finest houses. High style needn't be fancy.
Avoid simply filling space; instead, make sure every piece of furniture fulfills
a function. If your home is free of unnecessary items it will appear more
spacious, lighter, and generally calmer—and it will be easier to clean. You can
find a wide range of styles of furniture on the market, so avoiding furniture
that causes environmental pollution during its production or that damages
indoor air quality does not mean a
limited choice or having to settle for "rustic"
styles. You should consider adding several antique pieces to your furniture
collection. Antiques connect you to the past, reminding you of men and women who lived by
the natural rhythms of the day, waking at sunrise and going to bed at sunset, at
a time when people took pride in their workmanship. Patience was a necessity in
order to accomplish the degree of refinement expected in handmade objects.
Antiques also tie you indelibly to your own past. As a child, you may have eaten
informal meals sitting in old Windsor chairs at an antique farm table in the
kitchen. The dining room of your parents' house might have been formal, with
Chippendale chairs around a double-pedestal table, or it might have had an old
French fruitwood farm table surrounded by ladder-back chairs. Perhaps one of the
reasons people are drawn to these creations is that they evoke a period in
history when life seemed more serene and optimistic, and less complex and
cacophonous.
Today's solid wood furniture is undergoing a renaissance, and designers are developing
models based on traditional as well as newer, safe production techniques.
Traditionally, the furniture industry relied on the sustained productivity of
woodlands achieved by coppicing, which encourages regeneration. Coppicing
involves cutting a young tree with a trunk of about 4 inches in diameter, just
above ground level, leaving the roots intact. Some 15 years later, new trees
have grown from those roots, thus enabling one plant to continue producing
usable timber for hundreds of years.
Contemporary designers still use coppiced wood to produce furniture that is
spare and light. Long, flexible stalks of willow and ash thinning can also be
woven or bent to create interesting forms for chairs, screens, and stools. Other
designers exploit the powerful look of large pieces of unadorned wood to make
chunky tables and stools—sometimes boldly plain and other times with delicate
surface carvings and softened shapes. Sculptors are also producing carved
furniture from huge sections of a log, using the African carving tradition in
which a whole item, legs included, is carved from one trunk. This method avoids
glues and joints, but it does produce waste. All these designs embody the "less
is more" approach and derive their beauty from a simplicity of line and the
richness and texture of the wood grain.
Buying Green Furniture
When buying wood furniture, check that the wood is certified as ecologically
sound. Some retailers advertise these product lines as a marketing aid. You can select only materials and
products that originate locally, thereby avoiding large transportation costs.
Remember that the finish on any furniture is just as important as the other
materials, so check that finishes and glues used in production are nontoxic
Furniture is also being made from other natural materials such as rushes,
rattan, and bamboo. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing renewable resources and
it's also extremely strong and durable. It can be combined with plywood in a
composite material for making larger pieces, such as tabletops and work
surfaces.
Another traditional safe material now being used for interesting
designs is made from wood-based paper twine, which is woven into a flexible
fabric—sometimes incorporating wire for extra strength—and stretched over a
bentwood or cane frame. Such furniture has long been used in the tropics but is
becoming universally popular.
