During my daily twitter session over breakfast this morning, I was thrilled to see that our American cousins have taken the environmental bull by the horns and created a Sustainable Furnishings Council.
The wonderful Organic Connections magazine introduced Jeff Hiller, the President of the non-profit coalition and reminded us that the ‘furnishing industry utilizes an enormous amount of wood from our forests as well as materials that off-gas and cause health problems, and substances that eventually find their way into waste dumps and do not biodegrade.’
Hiller explains that the council was founded in 2006 and has grown to a membership of over 400, making it the largest organisation of its kind in residential furnishings. Their primary mission is to provide standards for exemplary performance within the industry whilst also providing education, promotion and networking opportunities for those producers and retailers interested in putting the planet and people on equal footing with profits – otherwise known as the Triple bottom line.
In the beginning, the council set about establishing a basic standard called the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which has been largely adopted and covers areas such as material extraction, transportation, use and final disposition or reuse.
Hiller maintains that “20 years ago there were aesthetic problems with sustainable furniture. The number of options that were available was fairly limited….That’s simply not the case anymore.” Hiller goes on to mention the variety of sustainable products now available to the green consumer including organic textiles, bamboo furniture, linseed oil paints, recycled glass and metal products, bio-hybrid upholstery foams, water-based dyes for fabrics and leather and of course reclaimed timber.
At Gecco Interiors we revel in seeking out and sourcing newly created sustainable products for the home interior. The range of products out there grows more and more diverse and there is simply no reason to furnish our homes with toxic materials with a short life-span when we can protect the planet and have a beautiful home at the same time.
Is it time for a UK based Sustainable Furnishings Council?
