Being conscious of the environment is becoming a necessity given the rapid rate at which humans are using up natural resources. If you’re on an environmental protection drive and want to do your bit to help save the planet, using eco-friendly furniture is a great place to start. Replacing your home and office furniture with eco-friendly variants is a great way to introduce the concept of sustainable living in your home and take a substantial step towards protecting the environment. Unless you’ve spent most of your life learning about ways to be more environment-friendly, chances are you’ll be unaware of the kind of furniture materials that can be described as eco-friendly and sustainable.
To help you identify the right materials for eco-friendly furniture, we have compiled a list of the top 5 options available at your disposal. Once you have a better understanding of the kind of choices you have, you’ll be much better suited to make an informed decision. One easy way to do your part in saving the environment is by renting home furniture instead of buying it. When you rent home furniture, you avoid the moral complications of bringing home furniture that has been made from freshly cut wood just for you. CasaOne offers top-quality furniture for rent from some of the most reliable brands in the business and each of our furniture items is sent to you in mint condition, even when it’s not new.
Here are 5 eco-friendly materials you can use for your home or office furniture.
Eco-Friendly Furniture Materials for the Home and Office
Reclaimed Wood
If you’re wondering whether you can use wooden furniture in your home if you’re trying to be more environmentally conscious, the answer is yes! Your options for wood furniture include reclaimed wood or new wood sourced sustainably. Reclaimed wood is essentially recycled wood from either old furniture or other pieces of wood that are used to create brand new furniture including tables, chairs, and beds. Some sustainable ways to gather wood include a tree farm with trees planted specifically for furniture or chopping only the branches and top of the tree so that it can grow again. If more people switch to reclaimed wood or using only wood that’s been sourced sustainably, the chopping down of trees in forests will reduce significantly and that’s always good for the environment.
Recycled Materials
That recycling is good for the environment is known to all. But equally important is the fact that you can bring home beautiful-looking furniture without inadvertently harming the environment. Almost every type of furniture material can be recycled including wood, textile, metal, glass, fiber, timber, and more. Any furniture made from recycled materials requires fewer resources and less time than furniture made from new fabrics and other materials. Given a rapidly increasing population and shrinking natural resources, using recycled materials for furniture is the way ahead.
Bamboo
One of the most popular choices when it comes to eco-friendly furniture material, bamboo boasts the coveted dual features of beauty and durability. Bamboo is an extremely versatile material and can be used for everything from modern furniture like coffee tables and bookshelves to even flooring. Amongst the most sustainable furniture materials available online, bamboo grows back quickly after being trimmed and is very easy to work with. Bamboo furniture also works great in the outdoors and is considerably more weather-resistant than many other types of furniture materials. More than anything else, when you bring home bamboo furniture, you can rest easy knowing that no pesticides were used to grow the bamboo and that your furniture will last for years to come.
Rattan
Rattan is a climbing vine-like palm found in the tropical jungles of China, Asia, and Malaysia. The palm’s outer bark is used for caning, while the inner reed-like part can be utilized to weave wicker furniture. Rattan is a sturdy, weather-resistant furniture material that is both beautiful and low maintenance. While there are two primary variants of rattan, natural and synthetic, over 600 species of the palm are available around the world. The good news is that both natural and synthetic types of rattan are sustainable and environment-friendly. Rattan furniture is considered amongst the most decorative styles of furniture and is heavily featured in balconies, patios, gardens, and backyards, and hotel gardens. Bring home a stylish set of rattan furniture and furnish your space with durable and unique furniture that’s plenty eco-friendly as well!
Hemp & Organic Cotton
If you have a lot of old furniture that needs to be reupholstered, we have the perfect eco-friendly material for you. Hemp and carbon footprint-friendly cotton are both gathered from renewable sources which means you don’t run the danger of exhausting their natural supply. A super durable and hardy material, hemp is grown without any harmful chemicals and regrows very easily, making it the ideal choice for eco-friendly furniture upholstery. The method of growing organic cotton is also equally sustainable and responsible. The excellent levels of comfort offered by organic cotton make it tailor-made as the upholstery material for couches and sofas, dining chairs, and many different types of furniture. By reupholstering your old furniture with hemp or organic cotton, you negate the need to purchase new furniture and avoid further straining the environment.
These are the top 5 eco-friendly materials for home and office furniture you can choose from. Make your choice depending on your budget, requirements, easy availability, and the kind of home aesthetic you want to create. Apart from offering premium quality furniture for rent, CasaOne also offers professional interior design consultations. Got questions about how you can design your home in a more eco-friendly manner? Our in-house interior design experts can help you out. Browse our rental furniture collection now or get in touch with our talented interior designers for a complimentary, explanatory interior design consultation.
GOT QUESTIONS?
- Which furniture material is best for outdoor furniture?
The best furniture material for outdoor furniture is aluminum since it resists rust and moisture damage far better than other outdoor furniture materials. Other materials suitable for outdoor furniture include resin, recycled plastic, wood, wrought iron, steel, and mosaic. Make your choice depending on the dominant temperature in your area and your design goals.
- How to make furniture from recycled materials?
All kinds of materials can be recycled to make furniture including wood, plastic, textile, fiber, glass, and timber. The process to make furniture from recycled materials remains pretty similar across all the different materials and begins with melting the material scraps into a solid mass and then shaping it into the desired furniture shape.
- Can leather furniture last long for pets?
Leather furniture happens to be quite durable with pets, making it a great selling point for homeowners with pets. Leather furniture like sofas don’t attract the hair shed by dogs and cats and are much easier to clean than other types like fabric couches. Leather as a material is also quite tough and doesn’t get damaged very easily.
- Which furniture material is the cheapest?
Many inexpensive furniture materials look great despite their lower price tags including reclaimed wood, bamboo, concrete sheets, used bricks, stone veneer, shipping containers, and corrugated metal.