How to Go Green: Furniture

[by Jacob Gordon]

Some people obsess over furniture. Others hardly even notice it's there. One way or the other, making environmentally savvy choices in furnishing your home or office can make a big difference in your impact on the planet and your health. The modern sustainability movement has attracted such a large number of innovative designers that it's hard to know where to start.

In this article we won’t be listing every green furniture company or designer under the sun but rather give a rundown of basic concepts that might guide your search. Of the specific products and brands we do mention, not all will be budget-friendly for everyone--at this point, a lot of the green design is still specialty stuff, and thus pretty high-end. But don't worry. There are always cost effective ways to go green. Keep reading to learn more about the best ways to go green with your furniture.

Read the article here on Planet Green.

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Reusable Bagging It, Envirosax-Style

There are quite a collection of cloth bags hanging in my kitchen closet - some washed so many times in the last half-dozen years the different advertising images are faded and barely legible. So perhaps it's not surprising that the bins full of designy shopping bags (mostly from Envirosax) at the Dansk Design Center store were a lot like colorful candy to me on the day I visited.

Reusable bags - how much would you pay?
But the prices were an obstacle. Never mind that everything in Copenhagen is just a little bit cooler and more expensive than it is in my home town. It just seemed that almost $20 for a reusable bag was outside my comfort level. Pretty far outside. (I later also realized the mark-up was outrageous...buy on the web.) But Envirosax' new Mikado prints were pretty cool - and the organic hemp, bamboo, and linen bags were just gorgeous (but are way past the comfort level at U.S.$24.95). So what did I do? The same thing I always do when I really love something - and this is 9 times out of 10 an eco-item that I think is too expensive...

...I bought it as a gift for a loved one. In this case, my husband, who actually had expressed previous desire for a cool reusable bag that would neatly fit in his go-everywhere backpack.

And really, despite the rather high price, the Envirosax turned out to be worth it - primarily because the giftee liked it so much our incoming plastic bag problem (aha!) suddenly dropped to almost zero. Light as a feather, which is great, but also roomy enough to hold the mid-week replenishing groceries - milk, butter, salad veggies, apples, and cereal - as well as a few items from the hardware store. Easily rolls back up into its squashed shape and snaps into its self-made pouch, which doesn't seem like a big deal but is great when you've got 50 other things in said back pack. The only downside (and it's a big one) - Envirosax' material is very handy, but it's polyester. Bummer.

Now my only regret is that Envirosax hasn't found suitable eco-polyester and that I didn't go ahead and really splurge on the 5-in-1 pack of Mikado designs. Then I could stop coveting my partner's bag from afar. Live and learn. Via ::Envirosax

Article found here.