We live in a day and age when it is no longer optional to ignore climate change or pretend that it isn’t a serious issue deserving of our full attention. For the last several generations, our world leaders and policy makers have ignored the numerous scientific studies and growing dire warnings from experts concerning the impact that human activity is having on the planet.
For decades they have passed the buck to the next generation, and then the next. Now virtually everyone agrees that we are at a point of no return. We must start making significant and immediate lifestyle changes, or the earth may never recover from the tipping point we send it over. One such agent of change is coming in the form of eco-friendly, green furniture and home décor items.
Benefits of Eco-Friendly Furniture
While the most obvious of reasons to invest in these types of sustainable and low-impact home accessories would be for their environmental perks, there are other, more subtle reasons that also add to the value of using more green options around the house. One example could be the benefits to your own personal health and wellbeing.
Using organic bedding such as sheets or pillows can lead to a fuller, more complete rest cycle at night. This can increase your energy and concentration levels for the day, as well as helping to quell any mental health issues or emotional imbalances that may come as a result of insufficient sleep.
How to Find Eco-Friendly Furniture
It’s not always easy to find the specific features that you are looking for when it comes to purchasing furniture and home accessories that are good for the environment. You certainly can’t expect to walk into your local supercenter and find environmentally responsible products (nor would many of you want to, we’d imagine). To help you locate the best options for you and your family, we put together a small list of things to look for and avoid in these products:
· Products made with reclaimed materials
· Natural fabrics
· Certified sustainable wood
· Recycled plastics and metals
· Low toxicity furniture
· No flame-retardant materials
· Look for eco-watchdog approval labels
While these are a few helpful tips as far as finding quality green furniture products, making sure that you are doing your part to help clean up our environment takes a deep and full-time commitment. Buying local also contributes to the process as fewer materials have to be shipped, reducing travel impact and emissions from fuel consumption. Even the smallest factors can have a huge impact on the environment over the course of time.
Parting Thoughts
Sometimes taking on a challenge as large as global environmental health can seem daunting, if not downright overwhelming. So often we are tempted to dwell on all of the people who aren’t doing anything to help the cause, and who are, in fact, making the problem worse. But those kinds of thoughts won’t solve the problems facing us today. All we can do is simply to do our best. Make the positive changes that we can, when we can, and teach others by our example. Buying eco-friendly décor and furniture is a great way to make a difference.
Written by guest contributor Elise Morgan
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