Category — Green Furniture

With Thanksgiving preparation, and whirlwind of cooking plans underway, you may be wondering how to reduce energy use in the kitchen.  Here are a few green living tips for saving energy while preparing your Thanksgiving dinner….or any dinner!

Scrub, Baby Scrub: A blackened cooktop on your kitchen stove absorbs heat, and causes you to consume more energy, but a shiny stove top efficiently reflects energy into the cooking pan.  Now’s the time to clean your cooktop, and get ready for the Holidays.

Join the Hoods: Range hoods can help you quickly whisk away the extra heat in your kitchen, before you’re prompted to turn on the air conditioner!

Ugh…Clean the Oven: The last thing you wanted to hear, right?  Just like a dirty stove top, a grimy oven steals energy, and can cause foods to cook unevenly.  Ahem…just do it.  [Read more →]

Side chairs and tables that double as unique and interesting art always make such bold statements in home decor.  If you’re trying to add environmentally friendly and artistic pieces to your home, reclaimed wood furniture is a great option.

Wood furniture crafted from reclaimed timber can include everything from old barn wood, root wood, and even driftwood.  The reclaimed wood stool above, called a twist stool, has a cool rotating design.  A pair of these used as bar stools would make an eye-catching lounge area, or add some creative flair to a breakfast bar.

Here’s another wooden stool in the shape of a “Z”.  This one is just over 20 inches tall and is made from reclaimed enterolobium wood.  Both reclaimed wood stools are available at Clipper Trading Company.

As the largest piece of furniture in your home, your sofa is a big decorating choice.  Home decorating experts say to buy quality, neutral pieces that can be used for years, and can be easily adapted from one style to the next.  But, when you’re looking for an environmentally friendly sofa, there are additional considerations, including:

Frame material:  If the sofa frame is made of wood, check to see if it is sustainable wood, and ask about any finishing products used on the wood to avoid VOCs.

Upholstery:  If you’re looking for an environmentally friendly sofa, your choice of upholstery fabric makes a difference.  Organic fabrics such as hemp and cotton are good choices, and are becoming more widely available.

Cushioning:  The filling of your sofa is also an important choice.  Avoid petroleum-based urethane foams in favor of natural rubber or latex cushioning and batting.

The sofa above is from the Bean Organic line at Bean Products, Inc.  Its wood frame is certified sustainable by the Forestry Stewardship Council, and the upholstery is an organic hemp fabric.  The sofa’s cushions are made from natural foam rubber harvested from rain forest rubber trees, and it’s also available in a sleeper sofa design.

You know, the evidence against buying bottled water certainly seems to be adding up lately.  I read this article over the weekend about a recent California study of bottled water that showed bottled water to be just as contaminated as tap water in many cases.  In fact, upon examining the “purity” levels of  10 different brands of bottled water, the study turned up crazy stuff like acetaminophen, fertilizer, and plastic chemicals.  Yuck!  One major retailer’s store brand water had more than 3 times the California limit for chlorine byproducts.

When you consider this information, on top of all the environmental problems caused by bottled water, has there ever been a better time to purchase  a water filtration pitcher and some stainless steel water bottles? Can you really trust anyone but yourself to filter the drinking water your family consumes?

The Brita water pitcher above filters out 95-98 percent of lead, reduces chlorine, and has a bacteriostatic system for preventing the regrowth of bacteria.  I like the sleek, modern design of this thing (proof that going green doesn’t make you a nerd), and the fact that it will fit in the door of your refrigerator.  The Brita 42632 drinking water pitcher is available at d! Mart.

Here’s another reason to go green when it comes to drinking water– bottled water is 1,900 times more expensive that tap water.  At a dollar for a 20 ounce bottle, that equates to over $6 a gallon.  Suddenly the price of gasoline seems like a bargain! Can you believe we pay so much for something with so many disadvantages?

Here’s a side table that would work well with any living room furniture or as a nightstand. It’s made from a reclaimed wine barrels, something often tossed out by wineries. According to Viva Terra, more than 200,000 wine barrels, made from the seasoned lumber of centuries old trees, are thrown away in California each year.

The top of this recycled table is made from the top of a barrel, and the legs are barrel staves. It measures 22X25, and it’s available in both light and dark finish. The wine barrel table retails for $239 at Viva Terra.

Here’s another idea for putting recycled wine barrels to use around your green home. Used Barrels.Com sells used wine barrels for making your own green furniture, shelving or other household items.

When choosing curtains, draperies, and window blinds for a green home, it’s important to know exactly what you’re buying. Window treatments are an often overlooked source of indoor air pollution due to toxic plastics and sealants. Here are a few suggestions for choosing eco-friendly window treatments and coverings.

Bamboo Blinds: Bamboo is a wonderful and sustainable resource for green living. When choosing bamboo window treatments, it’s important to select styles that do not contain any toxic sealants or wood finishing products. Non-toxic window treatments usually have indicate that on the label or box.

Natural Silk Curtains: Produced by the silkworm, silk is a natural protein fiber that can be found in curtains, sheers, and other household items such as silk bed sheets. Like bamboo, silk can sometimes be treated with toxic fabric protectors and fire retardants, so look for manufacturers committed to non-toxic production.

Flax Linen Curtains: Curtains and draperies made with 100% flax linen are an environmentally friendly window treatment option. Natural flax is a rich beige color that works well with just about any color scheme.

With all the recent publicity surrounding CFL light bulbs, it’s easy to forget about LED lighting as a green choice for environmentally friendly homes. Thanks to advancements in technology, LED lighting is becoming more affordable and used in more household light fixtures. Here are just a few of the benefits of LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes).

Longer-Lasting: LED lights blast the competition when it comes to longevity. According to some reports, LEDs last 10 times longer than CFLs, and last more than a hundred times longer than incandescent light bulbs. In addition, LED light fixtures can help you save money by conserving energy in your green home.

Cool to the Touch: LED lights, including LED flashlights and LED Christmas lights, operate on very little power, allowing them to burn cool and reduce the risks of children being burned and accidental fire.

Compatible with Solar Panels: If you’re making the green energy switch to a solar-powered home, you may want to consider LED lighting. Because they use such little electricity, LEDs are a great option for use with solar panels.

See more information about LED lighting.

Sometimes the “almost perfect” room needs just a single finishing touch to become the “perfect” room. If you’re looking for green decorating accessories to put the final touches on your green home, you might want to consider occasional tables, coffee tables, and end tables like the one pictured above.

This eco-friendly coffee table is made from 3 pieces of SmartWood, which is rain forest certified and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, a non-profit dedicated to sustainable forestry practices. All the wood for the environmentally-friendly furniture is harvested in North America, and it’s finished with non-toxic, formaldehyde free, water-based finishes. In addition, this end table is UV sealed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Wondering how they’ll ship it to you? The table folds flat to reduce packaging and shipping requirements. I found this occasional table at BuyEnergyEfficient.org, which offers a wide variety of environmentally-friendly household items, including green furniture and green kitchen appliances.

Putting your kitchen waste and lawn clippings to work through composting is an excellent way to live green. Not only are you making use of would-be trash, you’re creating rich, nutrient-dense soil for your garden. Although many green living advocates use simple barrels or bins for creating compost, here’s an alternative if you want a faster way to create compost.

The Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler claims to create compost in as little as four weeks. With a daily spin, the tumbling bin rotates on a center axis to allow users to spin the tumbler around, breaking down the contents of the bin, introducing more oxygen to the contents, and ultimately creating compost in a shorter period of time. I found the Tumblweed Compost Tumbler at Green Living for $199.

Choosing environmentally furniture can be a complicated decision. Here are a few things to consider when choosing furniture for a green home.

Start with the Finish- When selecting green furniture, especially wooden furniture, be especially particular about the finish. Even the most environmentally friendly materials in your furniture can be ruined by chemicals and toxic finishes. Specifically ask for furniture treated with non-toxic substances.

Examine the Construction- Durability is an important factor in choosing environmentally friendly furniture. After all, if you’re just going to have to replace a supposedly green furniture item after a few years, then you really are just creating more waste.

Go Vintage- Perhaps one of the best ways to add green furniture to your home, is to skip the new purchase altogether. Could you rescue a sofa or end table from your local second hand store and add new upholstery or a fresh finish? There are many varieties and shades of non-toxic furniture finishes widely available for such projects.