About The Sustainable Furniture Council

Unless you’re involved in the interior design or furniture manufacturing industry or are deeply involved in the green movement, you may not have heard of the Sustainable Furniture Council.  However, they are an organization worth getting to know.

The Sustainable Furniture Council (recently renamed the Sustainable Furnishings Council) is a non-profit group of suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, and designers formed to promote sustainable practices in their industry.  Members of the SFC believe that we’re facing dangerous global climate changes and it’s our responsibility to take action.  They believe in taking steps to minimize carbon emissions, waste stream pollutants, un-recyclable content and primary materials from unsustainable sources.

The SFC Life Cycle Assessment 

The Life Cycle Assessment, or LCA, is a system of requirements that must be met to qualify for FTC environmental marketing guides and attorney general green guides.  Meaning, you cannot say you’re environmentally friendly without having gone through a life cycle assessment to prove you are.  It’s a standardization process to make sure all claims are valid and all products are equal.

So What is a Life Cycle Assessment?

In order to obtain sustainable product certification, the LCA identifies twelve environmental benefits or impacts including:

Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment Matrix for all alternatives (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Global Warming
2. Acidification
3. Ozone Depletion
4. Eutrophication, (the effect on our water supply when it receives too many nutrients from chemical fertilizers and run off)
5. Photochemical Smog
6. Human Health
7. Ecological Toxicity
8. Fossil Fuel Depletion
9. Habitat Alteration
10. Criteria Air Pollutants
11. Water Intake
12. Solid and Hazardous Waste

How does the LCA affect the SFC? 

The SFC believe that the LCA is the best method for analyzing the environmental impact of their products, which include all the materials that go into their products.  They have goals that include:

* Raising awareness of the sustainability issue
* Assisting companies in adopting good practices
* Serving as an information clearing house for sustainability
* Creating a symbol of assurance for consumers (companies and products can obtain an SFC member certification to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and environmentally-friendly practices)

The SFC really does support what they call the triple bottom line of PEOPLE - PLANET – PROFITS.  They’re leaders in the industry and are setting the standards in sustainable furniture and design manufacturing. You can find more about them on their website: http://www.sustainablefurnishings.org/

Which Is Greener - Handcrafted Furniture or Mass-Produced Furniture?

There’s a bit of a debate between furniture manufacturers, designers and environmentalists about which practice is most sustainable: handcrafted furniture or mass-produced furniture.  Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of each so you can decide for yourself.

Guadua furniture at the National Bamboo and Guadua Investigation Center, Córdoba, Quindío, Colombia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Handcrafted Furniture

When comparing handcrafted furniture and mass-produced furniture, you’re essentially comparing apples and oranges or perhaps organic apples and oranges.  You have to look at the variables for each to decide which is better.  Initially you might think that organic apples are much better than oranges; however, if they’ve traveled from Australia to land on your table in Chicago then there is a lot of energy used and pollution created on that trip.  The same holds true for furniture.

Handcrafted furniture is the best bet if it’s created with reclaimed or sustainable wood.  For example, bamboo is a sustainable wood because it grows quite quickly and can be harvested from bamboo farms without destroying forests.

Additionally, handcrafted furniture is better if it’s stained or painted with VOC-free or low VOC finishes.

Is it upholstered?  If the answer is yes, then handcrafted furniture would be considered better than mass-produced if the upholstery is reclaimed, recycled or some type of organic and environmentally-friendly fabric.

Finally, where did that piece of furniture come from?  If it was shipped to your community all the way from China then that presents some environmental challenges because the shipping will use up all sorts of fossil fuels and pour carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

So is mass-produced furniture the answer? 

Project made by Dama Design to show overall concern with ecodesign and reuse of materials. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Generally, no.  In most cases, mass-produced furniture commits all of the above environmental sins and then some - including unsafe manufacturing processes, environmental pollution, chemical pollution and more.  However, as people become more and more conscious and particular about what they buy and how they contribute to the environmental situation we’re in, more and more manufacturers are answering the call.

Mass-produced furniture can be green.  It can be made with recycled materials, it can be finished with environmentally-friendly paints or stains and it can be created locally.

One way to make sure your mass-produced furniture meets sustainability standards is to check to see if the manufacturer is recognized by the SFC or Sustainable Furnishings Council.  They have a rigorous life-cycle analysis and if your manufacturer meets their approval it may very well be better than that handcrafted piece of furniture.  You can check the Sustainable Furnishings Council website to find out if a retailer or manufacturer meets their criteria. (For more about the SFC, check back for Thursday's post.)

Green Ideas on How to Revamp & Reuse Old Furniture

Whether you have furniture in your home you’d like to spruce up or you’ve purchased furniture at a flea market or salvage yard, there are plenty of low-cost and green ways to make old furniture exciting so you can get more use out of it and keep it out of the landfills.

Furniture conservation - applying paint remover (stripper) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

#1.  Paint it.  Dingy furniture can get a whole new life with a fresh coat of paint.  If the furniture is already painted, you’ll want to put on a mask and strip it.  Old paint can contain lead and other harmful chemicals.  Next, head to your local paint store and find your favorite color in low VOC or VOC-free paint. 

(VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, are chemicals released from the paint.  They can cause illness and disease for many years to come as they are released into the air for decades.)  You can also strip and stain the furniture with natural and VOC-free stains. 

#2.  Reupholster it.  Have a piece of furniture that you like but doesn’t quite match your current décor?  Reupholster it with environmentally-friendly fabric like organic cotton or wool.  And if upholstering is too big of a do-it-yourself job, take it to an expert. It’ll cost less than buying new and is a more environmentally-friendly choice.

#3.  Add bits of finery.  Cabinets, drawers, and armoires can be spruced up with a little bit of new hardware.  You can often purchase the hardware from a flea market or a salvage store. They’re great places to find hardware with personality. 

A Chicagoland Flea Market.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tabletops can shine with mosaic tiles made from hammered porcelain or glass tiles.  You can find tiles at your local flea market or salvage yard and the project of hammering them into bits and then reassembling them on your tabletop into a beautiful pattern can be both cathartic and fun. 

Finally, you can also use sheets of scrap metal or recycled metal to create flash on tabletops or cupboard fronts.  The metal can be used as tiles or as an entire front to add an urban or contemporary touch. 

People have used everything from chicken wire to astro turf to add flair and personality to old furniture.  There are a million green ways to make old furniture new again - it just takes a bit of creativity.  Take a look at what you have around you and how you can make good use of it in an eco-friendly way.

Helpful Resources on Refinishing and Reusing Furniture: