Sustainability and environmental impacts of the furniture you buy

As I write my quarterly article for Southern Oregon Magazine, I must admit I am on a bit of a tangent. Both of my kids are organic farmers and they do their best to live without making much of a footprint in this world. My daughter was home the other day and reprimanded me for putting the Brussel sprouts in a plastic bag, “Mom! It’s not necessary! Single use plastic is destroying our world!” Later that night, as we talked more about the world and the environment, I felt compelled to share with her that mom and pop really do care about the environment. It’s one of the main reasons we founded our home store 17 years ago.

We wanted handmade, sustainable, environmentally conscious furniture for our own home, thus our store was born.

I know that everyone is on a budget, everyone has their limit of what they can spend, but when it comes to choosing furnishings, and especially upholstery, it is so important to go slow, take your time, buy the best quality you can afford, and here’s the thing: just ask where the furniture is made? If they can’t answer…you probably don’t want to know! There’s a big, grey catalog that most people get these days, and the upholstery is made in China, a country who is undergoing a huge shutdown for their environmental practices.

“China Shuts Down Tens Of Thousands Of Factories In Unprecedented Pollution Crackdown SOURCE: Furniture Today Magazine 9/7/2017

“China has implemented an unprecedented pollution crackdown in recent months as the country shuts down tens of thousands of factories. The effort is part of a national effort to address China's infamous pollution and has affected wide swaths of China's manufacturing sector.” SOURCE: Forbes 10/24/2017

In total, it is estimated that 40 percent of all China's factories have been shut down at some point in order to be inspected by environmental bureau officials. As a result of these inspections over 80,000 factories have been hit with fines and criminal offenses as a result of their emissions. “ SOURCE: Forbes 10/24/2017

OK, so this is not all furniture production, but let’s just consider a few more facts of companies doing business in China:

• Only 1 percent of Chinas’ 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered to be safe by the European Union.
• 16 of the world’s 20 worst cities for air pollution are in China
• 1/3 of China’s mainland is regularly soaked in acid rain SOURCE: factsanddetails.com/airpollutionchina

Now I don’t mean to be gloom and doom, but I do mean to ask the hard questions about considering sources and how you can make informed choices on home furnishings.

So, you are ready for some happy news, right? Let us shift gears, and go back to what companies can do who care about the world. There are amazing companies in our country who make beautiful, eco-conscious sofas. One of my favorites is Lee Industries, founded in 1969 with 10 people, Lee is an industry standard for ethics and quality.

Here is a quick snapshot of what can be realized with a company who has just the kind of ethics we can appreciate these days:

• Lee has donated over 142,515 trees to The American Forests
• Cushions are soy-based, recycled fiber cushions which save 64 gallons of crude oil per day in manufacturing
• One sofa cushion uses 116 recycled plastic bottles
• 95% of the company’s manufacturing waste is recycled

There’s an old saying that your sofa is the biggest martyr in your home: It gets the most abuse and no one appreciates it! It is so true that we all come home and plop down on the sofa to relax, and probably don’t think much about how or where it was made!

If you have an heirloom sofa from grandma that is stylish, it may be a far better option to have it re-upholstered than buy a lesser quality new sofa. Vintage sofas tend to be 8-way hand-tied beasts that you cannot shut down! They just might need a new “do” on the outside. Ask your upholsterer about natural fill options when having it re-done. And when it comes to fabrics, we have an amazing resource here in the valley, Henry Calvin Fabrics, a company who has been procuring the finest natural fabrics since 1953. Calvin was the first company in the US to import Belgian linen. Yep, that’s over 60 years ago that Calvin was a leader in promoting beautiful, natural, sustainable fabrics. The company has procured deep relationships with time-honored mills throughout Europe and it is such a treasure that they have re-located to our valley from SF.

As a designer, I come face to face daily with folks who shop online and are motivated only by price and what “appears” to be hip and affordable. I feel compelled to say that in my opinion price is NOT the most important factor when choosing the furnishings for your home. You will share your home with family and friends for years and years, you will sleep on your sofa,you will curl up to watch a great movie, and if you make the right choice, it will become a part of the family in a healthy, appreciated way!!!