3 Ways to Go Green When Furniture Shopping

Saving the planet does not always mean performing heroic acts. Sometimes it means taking small steps towards doing things that favor the survival of the planet. Going green may seem daunting and complex. It should not. It should be as easy as doing what you know is right.

Switching off a light as you leave a room, turning off the water while brushing your teeth, properly disposing items for recycling. These are tasks that can be easily integrated into your daily routine. Another way you can go green is by choosing to buy green.

One of the bigger investments you will make in your home is furniture, so it follows this is a good place to start.

Here, we will look at three ways you can go green when furniture shopping. This list is by no means exhaustive so after reading it do think of other additional ways you can go green as you shop around for furniture.

1. Rent Instead of Buying

Buying furniture is a major investment. You pay a large amount of money for furniture you may not want in your house in a few years’ time. This unwanted furniture will often end up either in a landfill or some storage somewhere.

This is not a sustainable approach. A different approach is renting the furniture instead of buying. Companies such as RentFeather.com are pioneering this new way of acquiring furniture to close the loop when it comes to furniture. One major advantage of renting furniture instead of buying is the number of people who use the same piece of furniture.

This increased use maximizes the utility of the item, driving down the need for additional pieces of furniture. If this new model gains popularity, this could bring down the overall furniture needed per unit of housing. This would be huge for the environment overall.

2. Vintage Furniture

Every time you buy a piece of unused furniture, you justify all that went into making it. However, when you buy a piece of vintage furniture, you increase the utility of the item. This means no new piece of furniture needed to have been made to serve your need.

This is a positive outcome for the environment. Buying vintage furniture also means most Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) used to make the piece have dissipated. This is unlike unused furniture that can emit VOCs for months or even years, polluting the environment in the process.

Choosing to buy vintage furniture is an effective way to play a part in the protection and sustenance of rapidly depleting resources.

3. Durability and Repairability

If you cannot fix it, you will have to replace it. This is, unfortunately, the mantra most manufacturers today abide by, no less furniture manufacturers. They will want to build things that break easily and are hard (or impossible) to repair so you can come back and buy a replacement.

There are, however, still some ethical manufacturers that still make furniture that is durable and easy to fix. When you buy such furniture, you eliminate the need for replacements. This works out to a massive win for the environment.

Picture a situation where every household in the US did not have to replace anything for up to 10 years. Would this not have a massive impact on the environment? It would!

Next time you go out shopping for furniture, pick what will last long and is easy to fix. The environment will thank you for it.

From the ideas shared above, you can see going green does not mean you forego what you want. It just means you go about getting it differently. That difference is what matters most to the planet.