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Recycled and outdoor-ready. Impressed with the durability of components used in their previous business—creating skateboard parks for municipalities—one group of entrepreneurs started an outdoor furniture business. Loll Designs of Duluth, Minn., uses the high-density polyethylene  |
Made of one-inch-thick polyethylene and stainless-steel hardware, the Loll park bench is designed with comfort in mind.
| (HDPE) from recycled plastic milk jugs to create outdoor furniture and the paper-based composite Richlite (certified by the Greenguard Environmental Institute) for its tabletops.
CEO Greg Benson says the company creates the designs, cuts the shapes out of 5/8ths- and one-inch-thick HDPE sheets obtained from a Georgia plastic recycling plant, and assembles them by hand. The furniture includes a UV-inhibitor, is available in seven colors and requires no maintenance. It’s shipped flat with simple assembly required and any tools needed to build are included.
Benson says the business is growing quickly with demand this year exceeding projections. People like the designs, he says. “I don’t know if they would buy it if it was just ‘green.’ ” Eco-friendliness also carries through the business. The company refurbished an existing plant on a former brownfield site, a property that had the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. It uses natural daylight and passive solar heating for its offices, recycles HDPE scraps and cardboard shipping materials, plants a tree in the area for every order, buys carbon-offset credits from the Carbon Fund and is a member of 1% For The Planet—a group of companies that donates one percent of their gross sales to a network of more than 1,500 environmental organizations worldwide.
Ask Questions
| | | | | |  | | | | | Here are some green furniture basics:
• Wood. Forest Stewardship Council certification has become the standard. Among other requirements, it prohibits the use of highly hazardous pesticides around the world, prohibits the cultivation of genetically modified trees and respects the right of indigenous peoples around the world.
• Pressed-wood products bonded with formaldehyde-based adhesives can pollute indoor air. Furniture with alternative adhesives is available.
• Reclaimed wood. Wood byproducts gathered from manufacturing plants, trees cut from urban areas, trees removed as unproductive from orchards or wood recovered from landfills can become furniture. The Rainforest Alliance offers a Rediscovered Wood program that assesses and certifies good practices for the recovery, recycling and reuse of these wood products not eligible for FSC certification.
• Renewables. Several alternatives to traditional lumber trees, such as bamboo, regenerate quickly and are versatile.
• Recycled. Diverting materials from growing U.S. landfills offers a great option. Aluminum, glass and plastics are among some of the many choices.
• Upholstered. Consider products using minimally treated or organic wool, cotton or hemp fabrics, the use of recycled wire and metals in springs, and recycled textiles in batting or bio-based hybrid foams.
• Used. Our throwaway society dumps some useful stuff. Check out local antique or secondhand furniture options. Consider reupholstering your existing furniture with eco-friendly materials. | | | | | | | | | | | “ ‘Sustainable’ and ‘green’ are great buzzwords, but they are also catch-all terms that do not sufficiently discriminate,” says Jeff E. Hiller, marketing chair for the Sustainable Furniture Council.
The practice of making environmentally oriented claims that mislead consumers has become such a problem it has a name: greenwashing. Hiller says “a recent study of over 1,000 products across a wide variety of categories found that 99 percent were guilty of making misleading or unsubstantiated claims.” (For more information, read “Greenwashing: What It Is and How to Avoid It.”)
So, what can a consumer do? Hiller suggests asking questions. For example, ask where the furniture is made. Local sourcing is best. The farther away your furniture is made, the less you know about its background and the more transportation is required (the second largest cause of emissions). Ask for local products and insist on FSC-certification or chains of custody from hot spots like Indonesia and the Philippines.
You may want to know what wood is in the furniture and if it is certified. Around the world, FSC-certified represents the most rigorous standards with on-site verification. If the wood is not certfied, ask for fast-growing and/or commercially harvested species such as bamboo and mango.
Learn what finish is on the wood. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are toxic pollutants in most finishes such as varnish, lacquer and shellac. Ask for water-based finishes or natural waxes that have up to 85 percent less VOCs.
Another factor to consider is whether the manufacturer has a social equity code of conduct. This is a document of worker’s rights controlling age minimums, compensation and working conditions. For an example, check out the SFC document.
Ask whether the manufacturer has an energy reduction plan. Burning fossil fuels produces the most CO2, and generating electricity is the number one use.
Be prepared to hear “I don’t know” and “Let me check,” but keep asking.
Read other Green Homes Special Series articles here.
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Text by Maureen Blaney Flietner
© 2008 BobVila.com
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