Sustainable Furniture: Recondition, Reuse, Recycle!

In an attempt to do your bit for the environment you’ve gone ahead and bought non-toxic cleaners, energy-efficient appliances and reusable nappies for your baby. While self-congratulations are certainly in order, look around you and you’d find a lot more that you could do.

Take a look at your sofa

You sit on it, sometimes even nap on it, but have you ever given a thought to what a huge difference that innocent-looking sofa could make to the environment? Are you like many others who discard their old sofas and buy new ones every year?

Choosing long-lasting furniture has far-reaching consequences that can impact rainforests and landfills as well as our health. So before you go ahead and buy that new sofa that you absolutely love and is oh-so-affordable, stop a moment and also give a thought to how it was made. Equally important, think about how you are going to dispose off your still-looks-brand-new, old sofa.

Some of the most popular furniture is made from wood that is got from the trees of the rainforest. To keep up with the great demand for this furniture, trees are rampantly cut down. More than 80 % of old growth rainforest trees have been felled for furniture. This has a huge ecological impact on the forests and as well as the vast biodiversity that these forests support.

So, first of all, if you want a new look for your living room, maybe you could try reupholstering your old sofa. However, if you really must change that sofa, please don’t dump it at some landfill site. Sell it at a garage sale or just donate it to charity. There’s sure to be someone out there who’d be happy to have it.

When buying a new sofa, look for one that has a furniture certification from The Forest Stewardship council (FSC) or any other similar non-profit organization. These certifications guarantee that the furniture is made from timber that is obtained in an environmentally responsible manner.

Buy bamboo furniture

Bamboo is among the fastest growing plants in the world and requires no pesticides, fertilizers or replanting. What’s more there is a splendid range of bamboo furniture now available. Versatile bamboo furniture looks fabulous in any room and is more durable than furniture made of many other commonly used woods.

When buying a sofa, it is equally important to take into consideration the many factors that could have an adverse effect on your health. Certain adhesives, paints and finishes emit chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) that cause a significant amount of indoor air pollution and has been linked to various allergies and ailments. Furniture that has a Greenguard certification guarantees that only safe and low-emission materials were used in product.

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