“Adulting” includes getting your own place, settling down, making a home comfortable for yourself and your loved ones eventually. You hope to decorate and fill your home with things that suit your taste and aesthetically pleasing things. However, these things might have an impact on the environment.
We need to be mindful of how they will affect the world today and think of the problems they will cause for our future generations. The worldwide bad practices are having an impact on animal and human lives today at this very moment. They will be a very real concern for everyone. Therefore, you must start with yourselves, change your practices and then preach to others. We have compiled a few tips you can keep in mind while shopping for furniture.
Support Small / Local Businesses
A very simple tip is to opt for local or small furniture suppliers while shopping for furniture.
This practice not only helps your local economy flourish but it also happens to be a very environment-friendly practice. It can be beneficial to the buyers in many ways whether it’s about getting local products, getting high-quality products, pocket friendly, or environmentally friendly.
Large designers or furniture suppliers use enormous factories and produce in bulk. This increases air and water pollution. A lot of harmful gases and chemicals are used in the production of furniture pieces which are then released into the air and dumped in water bodies. On the other hand, the practices of small businesses, while not ideal, have a much smaller carbon footprint and overall environmental impact.
Shop Sustainable Containers
Do you feel like there simply is not enough storage space in your home? There is a very easy solution to that. You can read out several written tutorials and articles about how to get the maximum out of your available space. You can go and find some interior and exterior designers as well, who can manage your space in a better way for you. After all that there are some special environment-friendly materials as well which we’ll discuss below.
There are a lot of environment-friendly materials that you can make large durable containers out of. You can look for wicker or burlap barrels that can also function as stools if you add a cushioned cover on them. This is not only eco-friendly but can help you achieve that rustic, forest hut kind of aesthetic quite effortlessly. The best part is, it is not heavy on your pockets either! We all have a concern regarding the price and budget-related points when we shop for anything, but this budget-friendly material is like icing on the cake.
Be Mindful of Deforestation
Almost ten percent of the total deforestation is due to the furniture industry’s practices. Everyone loves wooden furniture. It seems quite impossible to completely stop using wooden products. Every small to big utility is made up of wood these days because it gives a nice feel and visual appearance. Whether its home, office or garden area, wood can’t be kept away from anywhere.
Even your house has a wooden structure within it!. You are right, it is very hard to completely cut off wooden products. Not to mention, the rustic look of wood is quite timeless. Well, is there a way to use wood without having to chop down trees? Unfortunately. No there is not. Can we use wooden products without contributing to deforestation? Yes, we can!
It is being done in the world today. This is achieved by simply treating trees the same way we treat a crop like wheat. Plant tropical trees that tend to grow very fast, then cut those off, planting more trees in their place. This allows for a steady supply of wood without having to cut down any existing natural forest area. Such man-made forest areas used for wood supply are called plantations.
They exist in several parts of the world and many companies have started sourcing their raw material from these areas instead of natural forests. Of course, we should never cut down natural forests to make room for these plantations. That would be antithetical to the original goal. Looking for furniture suppliers that source their wood from plantations. These brands are usually very vocal about their practices so it should not be hard to find such a brand. With so many available options to explore things and with so many shopping options finding the right brand and right shop is a cup of tea for everyone.
Integrate Plastic Furniture
Surprising right? Since you may have seen many campaigns aiming to get plastic bags and straws banned. But you see us promoting plastic furniture as part of an eco-friendly furniture shopping article. Let us explain! Those plastics products are banned or frowned upon because they are used once, then they are disposed of immediately. They end up in landfills or the sea, harming the natural habitat of many animals.
Actually, they are even better in a sense. Plastic furniture is cheaper and requires less fuel to manufacture than the same product made from wood or metal. This makes it more environmentally friendly. It is also less heavy, therefore, less fuel is required to transport it. Plastic injection molding manufacturers make furniture through a completely waste-free method! Click here for more info.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of this list. There are several easier tips out there. For example, you can simply choose a minimalist approach to styling your home, to reduce the number of furniture items you buy for it. Not to mention how trendy this look is! You can make your own furniture!
The goal is to create a home and a lifestyle that you are truly proud of! Not just because of how it looks, but because of how you made it all happen. Whether you fulfilled your responsibility towards the environment and the future generations in the process. These factors will truly give you real peace of mind.
