Blythe Copeland
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I've never put much thought into the green qualities of the furniture I'm buying--most likely because almost all of my furniture has been the flat-packed, build-it-yourself kind. So while I've become a superstar with an Allen wrench, I realize now that most of the pieces I've purchased have been things I don't intend to keep forever. That line of thinking has worked out fine so far--everything has easily fit up the three sets of stairs to my apartment and nothing has cost more than a few hundred dollars--but furniture isn't really something that's meant to be disposable.
It's not all bad--I am using a decade-old kitchen table passed down from a family friend, and our desk is a genuine antique that my grandmother left me. But what about the coffee table, TV stand, bookshelves, and dressers? It turns out they're all made of wood, and I can only hope that wood was responsibly harvested. Our microsuede couches, which have resisted stains from jelly, ink, antibacterial cream, and raspberry lemonade may be giving off toxins, too (but clearly we are people who require stain-resistant fabrics).
Still, the next time we're in the market for furniture, I'll look more closely at where the materials came from. (I'm already dreaming about replacing the kitchen table with something like this.) As for the pieces I already have? We'll just have to plan to use them forever—assuming we can get them back down the stairs now that they're not in flat boxes anymore. Anyone know a good moving company?
More on Greening Your Furniture
What's the Big Deal?
How to Go Green: Furniture
More Eco Friendly Choices
Restore Thrift Store, Second-Hand Furniture
Domino and Treehugger's Green List:
Furniture
Find, Design Your Own Refurbished Furniture
Bring Natural Harmony to the Dinner Table
Demystifying Bamboo
Buy the Book:
Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living
Blythe Copeland is a freelancer writer living on Long Island. Read more about her foray into the green life in her previous columns as she follows the plan set out in the book Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living.
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