At Green Design Furniture, we believe that being environmentally
responsible is simply the right thing to do, one, because it is
so perfectly logical and two, because it's simply good business.
We didn't think it was necessary to talk about or promote our environmental
values until our name began to beg the question about where we
stood on the issue. We also believe that making furniture with
the finest craftsmanship is the right thing to do because we thereby
honor the forests, ourselves and our customers in the act of creating
objects of enduring quality and integrity. Above all, we believe
in the power of innovative and thoughtful design to transform a
well-crafted, environmentally friendly object from goodness to
greatness. Attaining the summit of great design requires the seamless
integration of aesthetic beauty with brilliant function. Great
design reaches the highest level of sustainability by continuing
to provide pleasure and comfort for your lifetime and for generations
to come.
How 'green' is Green Design Furniture? And what is
'green' furniture anyway? Two great questions that we are being
asked so frequently these days that we thought it would be a great
topic for our newsletter. Being 'green' is a core value of our
company and has been since the first day we began making furniture
in 1993. It also is (and always was) our founder and designer's
last name (which makes us coincidentally lucky as well). Let's
start with an overview of the meaning of 'green' that creates the
context from which you can evaluate a company or a particular product.
Simply put, 'green design' is the only tool that will enable
us to achieve a sustainable relationship with our environment.
It consists of two core values:
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Reduce the 'footprint' left upon the planet in the process
of making a new product by utilizing low-impact, non-toxic, sustainably-produced
or recycled materials that require less energy to convert from
raw to finished state.
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Design products, buildings and services to function in an environmentally
friendly manner are equally important for determining whether
it is truly 'green'. The 'green' design does not cause physical
harm, consumes less energy, is engineered for quality and durability
so it lasts longer with less maintenance, and is engineered for
reuse or recycling.
Currently, the standard for evaluating the greenness of a piece
of furniture concerns itself with the materials that goes into
the manufacturing of a product.
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Was it harvested or extracted in a conscientious way?
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How much energy or petrochemical product was required to transport
and/or convert it into a finished product?
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Do the materials or finishes cause physical harm or illness
to the people that use it?
Equally significant yet frequently omitted from the equation,
are the factors that include the wider societal impact of a design.
These aspects of socially responsible design include the environmental
impact but also consider a more holistic view of the wider issues
surrounding the life cycle of a design.
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Does the product continue to create waste, pollution or harm
to the environment in its use?
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Does the manufacturing process harm or exploit the people that
made it?
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Is it well made, efficient and functional to use?
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Is it designed to be easily maintained? At the end of its useful
life, will it be easy to dispose of in a safe manner?
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Does the company act in a socially responsible way? Does it
provide for and protect its employees? Is it a good member of
the community?
Defining Green:
For the perspective eco-friendly furniture
shopper, I think a good starting point is to establish some clear
definitions of the many buzzwords that appear in conversations
about green design.
Embodied Energy: Understanding the true environmental
cost of making a product involves a method of accounting that calculates
the total amount of energy required to produce a product, from
extracting and processing the raw materials, to manufacturing,
assembly and packaging, all the way through to warehousing and
transporting.
Sustainably Harvested: Mature trees are selectively
cut, allowing younger ones to replace them. Care is taken to remove
logs so that minimal damage is done to forest.
Rapidly Renewable: For example, Bamboo (which
is a grass, not a wood) grows like a weed. Cork, which spontaneously
regenerates (naturally or artificially)
Recycled: Convert waste products (agricultural
fibers, paper) into useable materials. Also applies to finding
a useful application for discarded or waste materials from other
manufacturing or building processes.
Salvage: take an old barn apart and make a table
Non-renewable: materials that are
not naturally replaced after they are harvested, such as stone, metals,
and various other materials and minerals should
be considered non renewable.
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Off-gassing: Materials and chemical coatings
that emit chemical fumes through evaporation, resulting in
poor indoor air quality and potentially harmful health consequences.
(http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html )
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs): The chemicals
that cause off-gassing. The greater the VOC level, the less green
the product. VOC's are often used in paint, plastics, and cosmetics.
Resources:
http://www.greenroundtable.org
http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm
http://www.environbiocomposites.com
http://ecomall.com/greenshopping/furniture.htm
What happens to Polyurethane foam in landfill?
http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/june99/features/trash/landfill.html
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