How To Buy Sustainable Green Furniture
As a responsible person trying to lead a green lifestyle, you may be wondering how to buy green furniture. After all buying green means that you are doing your part to help keep the planet healthy. By buying green furniture you also keep your home healthy, because you are bringing in furniture that doesn’t place harmful substances in the air you breathe every day.
Some simple ways you can find green furniture:
The simplest thing to do is to look for FSC certified wood, which is now widely available. FSC certified wood is sustainable wood that has been harvested responsibly. It means that forests are being maintained and precious ecosystems are not ruined.
Broadway Furniture Is Your Portland Oregon Family Furniture Store
Buy Bamboo Made Products
Bamboo is a quick-growing grass and is widely used by green conscious manufacturers and designers. It is versatile and you can find it in many products from flooring material to furniture. Being so quick to grow back, it can be a never ending resource. Sometimes there is a concern about pesticide use, so if you are intent on buying green, make sure to question.
Buy Reclaimed Wood Furniture
Reclaimed wood is usually reclaimed from ancient furniture, buildings, and bridges, basically anything that used wood in its construction. It comes from other sources, too, such as discarded factory scraps, or logs that are reclaimed from rivers. Barnwood furniture is extremely sought after, and rightly so, as aged wood has its own richness and patina.
Buy Furniture Made from Recycled Materials
Furniture made from recycled metal and plastic is another option. Basically, anything that can be reused in any form can be said to be eco friendly. While this might seem to be too sweeping a statement, consider this: recycling means you are using fewer resources, and not condemning something to the landfills. With constantly improving technology you can be assured of quality as well. Repurposed furniture is also a excellent option.
Buy Furniture With Non-or Low-Toxic Finishes
Buying furniture that is low-toxic or non-toxic, you cut down on toxic off-gassing. Toxic off-gassing can be even more of a hazard in a well insulated home, where toxins cannot escape easily. Look for Greenguard certification as a guideline. While you can always question around about the materials used in making your furniture, looking for certification can save you time while providing you with guidelines.
Buy Locally Made Furniture
Buying locally made furniture instead of imported furniture is amongst the greenest choices you can make. Remember that being green is all about sustainability. Buying locally made furniture cuts down on energy requirements to ship it from one place to another since the nearer home it was made, the less it had to travel. Added advantage? You support the local economy by supporting local craftspeople and small businesses. If you look around you will find plenty of resources
Buy Durable Furniture
This is an easily overlooked, but vital part of being green. When you buy excellent quality, well made furniture, you are buying green furniture. It will not have to be replaced for a long time. Even if you get tired of it, you can easily give it away or re-sell, and somebody else can use it. Poor quality furniture may be cheap, and seem like a excellent buy at the time, but you and the environment end up paying a price pretty quickly.
Buy Recyclable Furniture
Green furniture lends itself to simple recycling or disassembly. If a piece of furniture can be easily disassembled at the end of its life, the pieces can be recycled easily. Look for C2C certification such as found on Herman Miller office chairs.
Buy Used or Vintage Furniture
Buying vintage furniture could be the simplest way of buying green. Maybe the it wasn’t originally made from FSC certified wood, or comes without Greenguard certification, but used furniture has certainly been around long enough to end off-gassing. Since you are saving it from a potential fate in a landfill, you are protecting the environment. Additionally, high quality vintage is always sought after, so it could potentially resell for close to the same price you bought it.
You can find A Fantastic Selection Of Quality Furniture at One Of The Best Portland Oregon Furniture Stores.
Broadway Furniture
228 NE Broadway
Portland Oregon 97232
503 — 281 — 5555
“Your Doorway To Values”
We Are Locally Owned and Family Run For Over 70 Years!
Our store carries over 50,000 square feet of furniture and accessories on 5 floors.
If you don’t see it on our showroom floor, we can special order it for you – at No Additional Cost!
source:http://furniture.about.com/od/buyingfurniture/a/gr7609een.htm
