Let's talk about your butt--specifically, what it's sitting on.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.15.06
David Roberts of Grist is probably the most entertaining and prolific writer in green blogdom. He and Grist founder Chip Giller have written an upbeat and positive article in the biz mag Fast Company about the good things that designers and manufacturers are doing in creating the next industrial revolution.
"Chances are, your chair is an unholy medley of polyvinyl chloride and hazardous chemicals that drift into your lungs each time you shift your weight. It was likely produced in a fossil-fuel-swilling factory that in turn spews toxic pollution and effluents. And it's ultimately destined for a landfill or incinerator, where it will emit carcinogenic dioxins and endocrine-disrupting phthalates, the kind of hormone-mimicking nasties that give male fish female genitalia and small children cancer (or is it the other way around?)." It goes up from there in ::Fast Company
So should I throw out my polluting chair and buy a brand new one? My desk chair was reclaimed from the curb and while it does contain polyurethane foam and vinyl I feel comfortable knowing that it's had several years to offgas and was rescued from the trash heap by yours truly.