What do people mean when they say furniture is green? I am not talking about the color. I mean the green as in earth-friendly. To me, the most green solution is re-using furniture, that is bought locally. See my post about New vs. Used Furniture. Let's look at the shades of green.
If you want green, you also should look at where and how new items are made. An item made in China, under lower controls on pollution and waste produced is also shipped thousands of miles before it reaches its final location in the U.S. There are many products manufactured primarily in the U.S., but they often cost more because of the
extra restrictions and higher labor costs.
Lot's of manufacturers of new furniture tout their sustainability and green credentials. But basically, if something is manufactured and transported, it burns energy and probably consumes other resources. There are some nice efforts to make items from recycled products, like TerraTex a fabric made from 100% recycled materials.
Other strategies include making a product recyclable. But in this case, the onus is on the purchaser to properly dispose of the product at the end of its life or usefulness. Often, breaking an item down into it's recyclable elements costs more than it is worth.
In my opinion, the greenest solution is to reuse, purchasing from a local source. This means finding good quality used furniture. A close second is locally remanufactured furniture using as much used content as possible. Remanufactured furniture takes used and spruces it up to make it have most of the characteristics of new. Kind of like a certified pre-owned car.
Scott R. Kline
Smart Interiors, Inc.
