Green Tip #12 – Select refurbished, recycled or eco-friendly furniture and building materials
Buy refurbished or second-hand furniture that are repaired and cleaned to look like new furniture. This helps to reduce the amount of old furniture sent for disposal. Or choose furniture and building materials made from recycled wood such as tables, chairs, doors and flooring.
You can also select furniture and building materials made of eco-friendly bamboo or wood sourced from sustainable forests such as those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which helps to reduce the rate of deforestation.
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Hey! Thanks for the great advice about buy refurbished furniture…what a great idea! I was browsing through a bunch of green websites and blogs and I came across yours and found it very interesting. There are a bunch of others I like too, like the daily green, ecorazzi and earthlab.com. I especially like EarthLab.com’s carbon calculator (http://www.earthlab.com/signupprofile/). I find it really easy to use (it doesn’t make me feel guilty after I take it). Are there any others you would recommend? Can you drop me a link to your favorites (let me know if they are the same as mine).
Great mention of the FSA certification… it’s the only way you can know for sure whether it’s truly environmentally friendly. This web page goes through some specs about credible certifications… http://ecotimber.com/info/eco.asp
Hi Eugene,
Thanks for helping to raise awareness of bamboo flooring.
Just a note regarding the FSC: it’s intended for timber and not really relevant to bamboo flooring yet.
So consumers should ask their suppliers for the relevant local certification and test reports, to ensure that their bamboo is harvested in a sustainable fashion.
Solid hardwood furniture is really among the most eco friendly material, once you also consider the durability and maintenance of the furniture. This is especially true of children’s furniture, which often takes a beating. Hardwood can stand up to a lot.
At http://www.furniture-that-gets-kids-to-pick-up-toys.com/ you can even see a toy cabinet video that keeps the playroom “green”. What it does is keep the child’s toys until they put one back, then allows them to get the next one. There is never any toy clutter around and the parents don’t have to constantly remind the child to pick up.