What Makes Furniture Good for the Environment?
"Green", "Environmentally Friendly". These and similar terms get thrown around a lot these days. Sometimes more appropriately than others. One of the most environmentally friendly things we can do is make our stuff last. We live in a throw away society where planned obsolescence, changes in styles and simply poorly made products have us replacing our consumer goods way to often. The old product going in a landfill and more natural resources being used to make the replacement. I make my furniture to be handed down to great grandchildren using techniques and materials that have proven to last centuries. I employ joinery that is not only stout but also allows the piece to be repaired down the road when the family dog chews up a table leg.
Materials
I make sure to use lumber in my furniture that is not detrimental to the environment either due to the wood being endangered or the method of acquiring it. Often, my lumber comes from local trees that were cut for some reason other than the use of the wood, which would otherwise go into a landfill. When buying lumber for a piece of furniture I make sure to use only wood from sustainable non endangered sources. You won't find any rare brazilian rosewood in my furniture. There is plenty of usable lumber and other materials locally that would otherwise be wasted. Why cut down a perfectly good tree halfway around the globe when everything is right in our own backyard?
