Come my friend let’s sit awhile
We’ll share a joke; We’ll share a smile
And before our visit is marked through
We’ll share what’s new with me; what’s new with you.
What’s the Carbon Footprint of Your Furniture?
Posted By ê¿ê on May 29th, 2008
Image via Wikipedia
When you look to buying new furniture, do you ever consider it’s carbon footprint?
What comprises the carbon footprint of, say a couch? You have to consider each component of the couch from the wood for the frame to the metal for the springs, bolts and nuts to the foam for padding and the fabric that comprises the outer covering.
The wood that comprises your furniture is most likely going to have the largest footprint of the components second only to the foam padding. If the frame is totally interior to the couch, it’s more than likely going to be made of pine. Furniture with external wood showing is likely to be made of cherry, oak, teak, bamboo or walnut. Domestic woods (in the US) such as cherry, oak and walnut will have a lower footprint than teak or bamboo simply because the woods aren’t transported as far and also because US methods of harvesting wood is fairly efficient.
Woods that come from third world countries such as teak and bamboo not only have the distance transported comprising their footprint, but may also come from sources where human rights issues come into play. Some teak comes from Miranmar which has so much been in the news lately with the attempts by humanitarian aid groups to get aid supplies to those hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by the typhoon of nearly a month ago. And it’s the deforestation caused by the harvesting of teak that created some of the terrain that contributed to the amount of devastation experienced by the Miramese people.
Teak furniture is durable, beautiful and has many other properties that make it highly desirable. But at what cost to those who harvest it, to the countries that experience the issues surrounding deforestation of old growth forests. Before buying that lovely patio set, give a thought to those who are starving in Miranmar.
To read more about the teak trade, you may want to read TED Case Studies and to learn more about the carbon footprint from using teak, this article from Ask Planet Green “Can I Use Teak for my Hardwood Floors?”
ê¿ê
Tags: Conservation, Furniture
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[...] 29) When you look to buying new furniture, do you ever consider it’s carbon footprint? What comprises the carbon footprint of, say a couch? You have to consider each component of the couch from the wood for the frame to the metal for the springs, bolts and nuts to the foam for padding and the fabric that comprises the outer covering. The wood that comprises your furniture is most likely going to have the largest footprint of the components second only to the foam padding. If the frame is totally interior to the couch, it’s more than likely going to be made of pine. Furniture with external wood showing is likely to be made of cherry, oak, teak, bamboo or walnut. Domestic woods (in the US) such as cherry, oak and walnut will have a lower footprint than teak or bamboo simply because the woods aren’t transported as far and also because US methods of harvesting wood is fairly efficient. Woods that come from third world countries such as teak and bamboo not only have the distance transported comprising their footprint, but may also come from sources where human rights issues come into play. Some teak comes from Miranmar which has so much been in the news lately with the attempts by humanitarian aid groups to get aid supplies to those hundreds of thousands of people left homeless by the typhoon of nearly a month ago. And it’s the deforestation caused by the harvesting of teak that created some of the terrain that contributed to the amount of devastation experienced by the Miramese people. Teak furniture is durable, beautiful and has many other properties that make it highly desirable. But at what cost to those who harvest it, to the countries that experience the issues surrounding deforestation of old growth forests. Before buying that lovely patio set, give a thought to those who are starving in Miranmar. http://eyespi20.com/whats-the-carbon-footprint-of-your-furniture [...]
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