• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop ModernMom
  • Become An Insider

ModernMom

The premiere destination for moms

  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Kids
    • Tweens and Teens
    • ModernMom Monday Videos
  • Cooking
  • Living Healthy
    • Breast Cancer
    • Health & Fitness
    • Body after Baby
    • Beauty
    • Relationships
    • Love
  • Lifestyle
    • Crafts
    • At Home
    • Education
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Decorate
    • Money
    • Brooke Burke
  • Celebrate
    • Holidays
      • Easter
      • Valentine’s Day
      • New Year’s
      • Christmas
      • Hanukah
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
    • Birthdays
    • Parties
  • Must Have
  • Contests
  • Entertainment

How to Buy Eco-friendly Furniture

October 11, 2009 by ModernMom Staff Leave a Comment

In all areas of our modern lives, we’re going green whenever we can—including our household and office furnishings. Furniture makers are now producing bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom furniture made of renewable or recycled materials with an eye to environmental friendliness. With eco-friendly furniture getting easier to find, more varied in style and more affordable, greater numbers of people are opting for the natural, the recycled, the organic and the sustainable.

Step 1

Buy used or antique furniture, if it is available, affordable and fits your lifestyle. Although the supply of recycled old furniture that fits into today’s lifestyle tends to be low, this is a tried and true way to buy eco-friendly furniture.

Step 2

Choose new furniture made with sustainable materials whose production has a minimal impact on the environment. The array of choices is wider than you might expect. Experiment with furniture made with unconventional materials such as wheat, sunflower or hemp. Did you know that hemp produces over twice as much fabric and twine per acre than cotton or trees?
Avoid furniture crafted of new wood, which contributes to deforestation—all wood furniture should be from sustainable resources, such as recycled wood or bamboo. Technically a grass, bamboo has many of the aesthetic and workable properties of wood and grows quickly without pesticides. Wrought iron and recycled metal and plastic add essential durability to eco-friendly designs.
Foam cushioning is susceptible to off-gassing over its lifetime. For cushioning in sofas, love seats and beds, opt for natural materials such as organic cotton padding, kapok or latex—or seek out ergonomic designs that negate the need for plush filler.

Step 3

Ask questions of the furniture-maker to determine whether the production processes is eco-friendly. Opt for furniture made using a process that is nontoxic to people and that’s less resource-intensive on the environment. Avoid furniture made with toxic paints, epoxies, stains and varnishes.

Step 4

Take stock of your practical needs before buying—don’t get seduced by an item of furniture simply because it’s gorgeous. Dressers, desks and other functional furniture should have the capacity and ergonomics that match your needs.

Step 5

Test-drive the furniture before making a purchase. Make sure the bed, sofa, table or chair you’re considering is comfortable, ergonomic and durable. Pick out classic styles that are not just attractive, but enduring and practical, too.

Step 6

Look for furniture that can be taken apart and put together again and repaired with ease. This increases the longevity of the furniture and the chances of reclaiming its parts.

Step 7

Buy quality, with an eye to the future, considering the length of time the furniture will last when comparing prices. Follow the example of the Depression-era generation, who learned during the Depression years and World War II to conserve scarce resources and make them last. Picking furniture you’ll use over the long-term and avoiding a constant turnover of “disposable” furniture is important to being eco-friendly.

Comments

comments

Filed Under: At Home

About ModernMom Staff

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Tell a friend

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search

ModernMom Boutique

ModernMom TV

Featured

10 Things Happy Moms Do Differently

"Today's feminism isn't about women doing it all. It's about … [Read More...] about 10 Things Happy Moms Do Differently

Must Have

winter

Pre-Holiday Must-Haves

"It's beginning to look  a lot like Christmas..." The … [Read More...] about Pre-Holiday Must-Haves

Did you know?

Pregnancy and Sinus Pain

Pregnancy and Sinus Pain

Can Self Rising Flour Substitute for Baking Soda?

what causes baby hiccups

What Causes Baby Hiccups?

Cook London Broil in an Electric Pressure Cooker

How to Cook London Broil in an Electric Pressure Cooker

substitution for oil in baking brownies

Substitution for Oil in Baking Brownies

Emotional Development of Adolescents

How to Bake Thin Sliced Turkey Cutlets

Footer

  • About Us
  • Contact ModernMom
  • Advertise With Us
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contributors

Copyright © 2021 Modern Mom. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction of any portion of this website only at the express permission of Mom, Inc.

The information provided on ModernMom is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.