Furniture Buyers Increasingly Looking For Eco-Friendly Products

A new initiative is bringing attention to environmentally friendly furniture at this year's High Point Market. The “What's it Made of?” campaign is from the North Carolina-based Sustainable Furnishings Council. It urges consumers to ask more questions about where their chairs, tables and bedroom suites come from, and how they are made.

WFDD's Paul Garber spoke with council executive director Susan Inglis about how consumers can lead the way to make furniture-making less harmful to the environment. Inglis says she's often asked what sustainable furniture is, and she has a ready definition:  

“It is furniture that is made in such a way that ecosystems have not been compromised and in such a way that it will last and be enjoyed for a long time without causing harm to human health or other life,” she says.

Furniture buyers are becoming more environmentally conscious, Inglis says. While most still look at style and price first, about two-thirds will consider it as a factor when making their purchases, she says.

“Sixty-six percent of consumers wanting eco-friendly is a very large percentage,” she says.

There are ways shoppers can become more environmentally friendly. Inglis suggests:

• Asking sales representatives what materials the furniture is made from.

• Choosing furniture that is made close by, so it hasn't been transported a long distance.

• Consider how much energy it took to make the product. More complex products usually take more energy - for example, it takes more energy to make composite woods than solid woods.

• Choose products that will last a long time - that will prevent having to repeatedly buy new furniture and cut down the demand on landfills.

• Look for woods and fabrics with minimal treatments.

• Pick woods from well-managed forests. More information can be found from the Forest Stewardship Council.

Inglis says change can be expensive for manufacturers and suppliers. It will take time and viable alternatives to change the process she says. But buyers can help make that happen.

“Consumers asking [will] move the needle,” she says. “No manufacturer wants anything more than to please their customer. So when consumers ask for what they want, that's a terrific way to drive real change."