The increasing awareness on sustainability and waste-reduction is resulting in creation of eco-friendly furniture that is slowly becoming more and more popular. Furniture designers are getting creative with materials like concrete and bamboo, making pieces that are eye-catching and inspiring and at the same timebeing environmentally sound.

A steadily growing number of designers have felt the necessity to save the rampant use of wood as the main material for manufacturing furniture. People in general are opting for eco friendly furniture as a gesture towards environmental protection. Sustainable furniture assures longevity, beauty and strength. They are also made with minimal amounts of chemicals, has less harmful pollutants like VOCs.

A Few Features of Green Furniture:

1. Recycled content- Like old plastic, glass, and metal, salvaged wood and recycled fabric, wood palletsare effective to combat environment related concerns.

2. Materials – Used for making the furniture do not emit toxins, carcinogens and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Designers often look for more natural materials like bamboo, cardboard Rattan, Sea grasses etc. for furniture manufacturing.

3. Handmade furniture -Etched out by local artisans usually fulfills the requisites of eco-friendly furniture. Most of these are made of recycled fabrics, organic wool, and retrieved wood and metal.

4. Less Processing -Furniture which involves less processing time, lower carbon emissions, consumes lesser natural resources like water, and facilitates use of alternative energy resources like solar power can be deemed eco-friendly.

5. Up scaled furniture- Sometimes designers upscale an existing furniture piece by changing finishing material like fabric,veneer, laminate etc to give an entirely new look.

6. Fair trade practices -Companies making this furniture essentially practice fair trade, which involves fair pay and no exploitation for workers.

7. Durability- It is keyas cheap priced pieces don’t last as long and end up in landfills soon after purchase.

8. One of the preferred choice of materials for furniture is Cardboard. Cardboard is lightweight, cheaper to acquire and also cuts down on the amount of paper waste and the emission of methane gas.

Fortunately there are a lot of Indian designers and brands who are dwelling in this field of sustainable furniture, namely-

Barohas become one of the most well-known stores producing up cycled, bespoke, and whimsical furniture.

Pulp Factory is another brand that recycles newspaper to create paper textiles.

pulp factor

SylynStudio – Their products are made from corrugated cardboard, burlap, and recycled materials that exude the spirit of craftsmanship, sustainability, and durability.

sylyn store

Differniture– A zero waste or “minimal waste design” philosophy is implemented in construction of customized pieces with reclaimed and salvaged materials and natural, non-toxic oils and waxes.

Differniture

Paper Shaper – An initiative of a Mumbai-based entrepreneur, Haresh Mehta, Paper Shaper is sustainable furniture store making lightweight, durable goods out of corrugated cardboard as alternatives to plastic and metal furniture.

Sadaya Guild –They believe that Reclaimed wood not only lends itself marvelously to renewal but in its second avatar it significantly matures into an even more stable, durable and beautifulmaterial. Te reclaimed wood is hand crafted into perfectly joined furniture.

Sadaya Guild

It can be very well stated, that there is no doubt that sustainability is a much better way for a better future. It is great that more and more designers are making a conscious effort to imbibe sustainable practices in there Endeavour for a healthier planet.