Shopping Organic For Furniture - Deceptive Practices

Recent years have seen a drastic increase in the demand for organic foods and health products. This has spread to many other arenas in our lives as well. Few would probably stop to think about shopping for organic products when making furniture purchases, but the time to do so has arrived.

If you search the internet for such products you may be surprised to find that there are many deceptive practices being used to market "organic furniture" products. Here are a few things to watch for.

1. Wood descriptions: Many websites hide the fact that manufactured woods are the primary materials in their furniture.

2. Wood provenance (or where the wood comes from): Some websites promote "sustain-ably harvested wood", while the slightest research reveals that the source of their materials is endangered wood from Asian rain forests.

3. Origin of furniture: They do not disclose where the furniture is created. Do some digging and you will discover that a lot of the "green furniture" you find is mass-manufactured in East Asia. It is simply drop-shipped from third party suppliers on the West Coast. Neither the manufacturer nor drop-shipper specializes in green or ecologically sustainable furniture production.

Here is what you should be looking for.

1. Certified Origin Lumber - Look for companies that are working to make as much of their furniture as possible from lumber that is grown as locally as possible. Lumber that is shipped from distant parts of the globe are increasing carbon emissions.

2. Waste Reduction - Two primary areas where this needs to be addressed are:
Packaging - Use of reusable materials as much as is feasible.
Samples - Every attempt should be made to be able to recollect and reuse material samples to avoid creating more landfill fodder.

3. Carbon Footprint Reduction - This is such a catch phrase these days, but is so important. Does the furniture manufacturer have a policy or program designed to constantly monitor their carbon footprint and work to reducing it.

In more and more of our choices as consumers we are able to see how those choices can be made in ways that are beneficial to ourselves and our planet.

Be aware of the deceptive practices in use and what positive things to look for and you will be on your way to finding good sources for green, and yes what can even be referred to as organic furniture.