Natural Environment Blog

Well, if you’ve had your sofa for any amount of time the probable answer is that your sofa isn’t very green.

The worst component on a sofa for not being green is the filling used to make sofa cushions. The vast majority are filled with polyurethane foam – which is a petrol-based product. So, for a start, that’s not very environmentally friendly as it’s a fossil fuel of which we only have a finite supply.

Added to this, it’s also highly flammable, so most sofa cushions are coated with flame retardants that are made with toxic chemicals. These used to be PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), but these are gradually being phased out because of their toxicity. In Europe PBDEs have been banned since 2004, and they are also being phased out in the US.

Studies have shown that PBDEs are found in house dust and indoor air, and that the contamination is greater in homes than in the air outside. The probability is that PBDEs migrate into the household air from the furniture. In lab tests, animals exposed to PBDEs showed memory and learning deficits, and PBDEs have also been linked to thyroid defects. In short, PBDEs aren’t good news.

The trouble is that polyurethane foam is the cheapest option for sofa cushions, so when you buy cheap furniture that’s what will be inside any soft furnishings. To make a greener choice, you have to spend more, particularly with fabric sofas. A better environmental option for sofa cushions is to opt for natural latex foam filled cushions.

Natural latex is sourced from rubber trees and has the added bonus of being mould and mildew resistant, as well as repelling house dust mites, so it’s great for allergy sufferers. You will have to pay more for it though, as rubber trees are relatively scarce.

This article was contributed by Celia Roche on behalf of http://www.harveysfurniture.co.uk/

When you decide to decorate your home, make sure that you don’t slip up and buy any products that are not planet-friendly. It’s easy to avoid this - all you need to do is spend a bit more time researching the products before you buy.

If you’re going to paint any of your rooms, there are many paint suppliers who sell a great range of eco-friendly paints. There are organic paints which are non-toxic and these aren’t just limited to emulsions. You can also find gloss finish paints and wood varnishes that are a lot more environmentally-friendly than you could a few years ago.

However, there are lots of paints that still have toxins like VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) in them, so make sure you take time to read the labels before making your choice.

You can also research flooring materials to make sure that the glues and varnishes used aren’t toxic to the environment in any way. Using natural fibres like seagrass and bamboo can seem like a more environmentally sound option, but it’s still worth checking that they come from sustainable sources.

When looking at pieces of furniture like sofas, check their environmental credits by asking the retailer - for example, Harveys - about their supply chain. Can they show that the fabrics used on the sofa bed you are thinking about buying have been produced in an environmentally responsible fashion? For example, were any pesticides used in the growing of the cotton, or were any toxic dyes used to produce the fabric colours? Go down to any Harveys’ sofa bed sale and see if you can find a sofa bed that suits you. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to delve a little deeper and investigate how the furniture has been produced and where the materials it is made from have been grown or sourced.

This article was contributed by Celia Roche on behalf of http://www.harveysfurniture.co.uk/.

The benefits of choosing eco-friendly furniture and upholstery are two-fold. You can be kind to the environment, and kind to yourself. Refusing to use animal-derived materials saves land, water and food, which in turn reduces greenhouse gas emissions and hazardous chemical-use

Choosing animal derived materials for furniture may seem natural, but this may not be the case, since these materials are known to emit toxic emissions which pollute the air, the water and the soil. Often the raising of livestock for wool, down or leather can be cruel.

Leather

Considered very luxurious by many, leather is made from animal skins, and is ecologically harmful. Raising livestock for whatever purpose, meat or leather productive, requires considerable amounts of feed, land, water and fuels. The excrement produced on farms also infects the waterways.

Even the process used to tan leather is noxious and polluting, with some of the oils and dyes used being cyanide-based. The tanning of leather produces a range of different pollutants including chromium, sulphides and acids.

Wool

You can be forgiven for thinking that wool is an environmentally-friendly upholstery material, especially since the sheep from which the wool comes are not killed, merely shorn. Many people (including the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have a problem with how wool-producing livestock are treated. They argue that even if they’re not subjected to pesticide-ridden habitats they could end up being mutilated by their owners.

Animal rights protesters have made a particular example of the Australian Merino sheep, who have been bred to have wrinkly skin which results in increased wool yields. Sometimes flies lay eggs in the folds of the sheep’s skin which can result in fatal maggot infestations, so farmers restrain the sheep without pain killers, cutting out chunks of flesh to discourage flies laying eggs.

Another environmental disadvantage of wool is the amount of gas that sheep and other wool-giving animals emit into the atmosphere through burping and farting. Sheep flatulence represents ninety-percent of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, so you shouldn’t doubt that this is a major contributing factor towards climate change.

Down and feathers

Down is a popular filler material for cushioned furniture, and is made from an insulating layer of feathers which can be found underneath the outer feathers of ducks and geese.

Down and feathers are collected from commercial meat processing plants, which means that it is impossible to know if they were raised organically.

Some campaigners have warned that often geese and ducks are plucked while alive. Down and feathers have also been blamed for allergic reactions, although this is more likely to be due to the dust and dirty which can accumulate in bedding over a long time.

Cover finishes

Cover fabrics, such as cotton is often bleached or dyed, and releases carcinogenic dioxins into the environment. Permanent-press and stain- and water-repellent finishes can emit gas formaldehyde into the environment. Cotton covers can also have detrimental environmental effects, as cotton uses a lot of water and is treated with more pesticides than any other crop in the world. Cotton is resistant to dyes and bleaches, so half of these chemicals end up as waste in rivers and in the soil.

Adam Cairn writes on behalf of Gecco Interiors, who supply a range of eco furniture and green products.

I recently wrote about an “Online Treehouse”, where you could find furniture and every day items that are certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Well, along the same theme, here’s another way of finding eco-friendly furniture.

The Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) is a non-profit industry association, which was established to promote sustainable practices within the furniture industry.

Well, its original focus was on the furniture industry when it was first established in October 2006, when it was called the Sustainable Furniture Council. However, since then, it has changed it’s name to Sustainable Furnishings Council, to better reflect it’s more diverse membership base. Its 250+ members include suppliers, manufacturers, importers, and designers of accessories, lighting, rugs and other categories.

The goals of the SFC are:

• To raise awareness of the sustainability issue
• To assist companies in adopting good practices
• To serve as an information clearing house
• To create a symbol of assurance for consumers