How to Green Your Furniture
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN on 01.22.07
What’s the Big Deal?
Some people obsess over furniture. Others hardly even notice it’s there. One way or the other, making environmentally savvy choices in furnishing your home or office can make a big difference in your impact on the planet and your health. The modern sustainability movement has attracted such a large number of innovative designers that it’s hard to know where to start. In this article we won’t be listing every green furniture company or designer under the sun but rather give a rundown of basic concepts that might guide your search. Of the specific products and brands we <do mention, not all will be budget-friendly for everyone—at this point, a lot of the green design is still specialty stuff, and thus pretty high-end. But don’t worry. There are always cost effective ways to go green. We’ll list some of our favorite brands and stores at the end, but we suggest digging through the TreeHugger archives. This could keep you going for hours, if not days, and the library is always growing.Guide Navigation
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1. Certified sustainable wood
Whether a piece of furniture is made from wood, cloth, metal, plastic, or whatever else, there are earth-friendly options. When cave people realized that boulders weren’t the most comfortable things to sit on, wood was almost certainly where they looked, so let’s start there. The world needs more trees, not less, so practices that lead to deforestation aren’t any good. Not only do trees absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, they keep the surface of the planet cool, they hold soil together so it can stay rich, and they provide the habitat that animals, insects, birds, and other plants call home, not to mention they support many people’s livelihood. Simply put, don’t mess with the trees. There are sustainable ways to harvest wood, however. Wood from sustainably harvested forests, sustainably harvested tree farms, and reclaimed wood are the main sources. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and its largest forest certifier, the Rainforest Alliance, is the most widely used standard for sustainable forestry.
2. Furniture made with reclaimed materials
If wood is taken care of, and sometimes even if it isn’t, it can last a really, really long time. So shouldn’t we be able to make good use of all the wood that’s already out there? A lot of designers think so and are doing just that. Reclaimed wood usually comes from old furniture, houses, or other built things that are ready for some friendly reincarnation, from flawed wood, or from scraps from a factory that makes other stuff. Some reclaimed wood even comes from logs that sunk to the bottom of rivers as they were being floated downstream to the sawmill, or from the bottom of man-made reservoirs (check out the Sawfish). Either way, furniture made from reclaimed wood is a great example of resource efficiency, but usually comes in shorter supply. The Rainforest Alliance has a Rediscovered Wood Certification label to look for.
3. Bamboo
You’ve probably heard by this point that bamboo isn’t a tree at all, but a grass. Bamboo represents a family of grasses that range in size from tiny to huge, and in color from lime green to maroon stripes. It is incredibly fast-growing and versatile and has become the unofficial poster material of environmental designers and builders. Bamboo can be flattened into flooring, molded into furniture, pressed into veneers, sliced up to make window blinds, or hey, you can just build your whole house out of it. Using bamboo in buildings earns architects and builders LEED points. Most bamboo comes from China and is grown with few of no pesticides. Because it is so fast growing, it is much easier to maintain healthy bamboo forests. This also means it uses a lot of water, however, and harvesting too fast can deplete soil fertility. Some growers do use pesticides and other chemical inputs, however, so keep that in mind. But for the most part, bamboo is one of the greenest materials around.
4. Recycled/recyclable metal and plastic
Since both metal and plastic are recyclable, at least in theory, these can be considered eco-friendly materials for furniture. More and more furniture is being made from recycled plastics and metals as well, like the recycled aluminum Icon Chair . Recycled materials require less processing and fewer resources, and help support the market for recycled materials. Technologies are always improving, meaning that recycled plastics and metals are always going up in quality. It’s not all about materials, though, so here are some basic guiding principles to keep in mind when looking for furniture.
5. Recyclable and disassemblable
Good eco-friendly furniture should lend itself to easy repair, disassembly, and recycling. Products certified by MBDC’s C2C (Cradle 2 Cradle) product regimen are a perfect example, like certified office chairs from Herman Miller and Steelcase. These product can be easily taken apart, sorted into their constituent parts, and recycled at the end of their useful lives. When buying furniture, stay away from “monstrous hybrids,” pieces that are an inseparable amalgam of materials. If they can’t be taken apart it’s probably a sign that they can’t be repaired very well either.
6. Look for furniture that’s durable and fixable
One of the most important but often overlooked aspects of green products (and this definitely goes for furniture) is durability. If something is tough and/or can be readily repaired, this lessens the chance that it’ll end up in the landfill, and could easily save you money in the long run, even if it’s initially more expensive. Even recyclable materials if they break (and can’t be fixed) require energy and other resources to reprocess and then replace. Durable goods that will last a long time can be passed on from person to person. Even if your style changes and that kitchen table isn’t your thing anymore, a good strong table will almost always be appealing to someone else, while a broken (and unfixable) one probably won’t. When it’s time to part with your possessions, think of Craigslist, Freecycle, or eBay, and find it a new home.
7. Low-toxicity furniture
When you buy a piece of furniture, bring it home, and set it down in a room, it doesn’t just sit there. No matter what it’s made out of, chances are, it’s offgassing (or releasing substances into the air). Almost everything offgasses, which isn’t necessarily bad, but synthetic materials or those treated with synthetic substances can offgas chemicals which are toxic. Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are the most common family of chemicals that are offgassed and have been linked to birth defects, endocrine disruption, and cancer. Flame retardants and formaldehyde are common VOCs offgassed by furniture. Especially if your home or office is well-insulated (which it should be for energy purposes) toxins can’t get out easily. In fact, studies have shown that air quality inside your house (or car) is often worse than outside. Everyone should be conscious of the kinds of chemicals they bring home, but especially if you have kids, pets, or other family members who are low to the ground and prone to licking things. There are some good ways to help maintain good indoor air quality when it comes to furniture choices.
Greenguard is a certification which ensures furniture is low toxicity. Herman Miller, Haworth, Knoll, and Izzydesign all offer Greenguard certified furniture options. Also, look for furniture that is untreated or treated with natural substances, like natural wood finishes, or naturally tanned leather. Organic cotton is also less likely to be treated with toxic stuff. Another great way to dodge toxic chemicals is to buy furniture that is vintage or second-hand and has already done most of its offgassing (just make sure it doesn’t carry anything worse, like lead paint). You can tell intuitively that new things offgas more actively—just think of that new car smell.
8. Buy vintage
With all the slick, mod, “eco” brands jumping into the market it can be hard to keep in mind that pre-owned goods can be the most green purchase of all. Vintage and second-hand and furniture requires no additional resources to manufacture, is often locally sources (cutting down on transportation), is pre-offgassed and eases the load on the landfill. Quality vintage furniture can also have excellent resale value (sometimes selling for the same price it was bought) which certainly can’t be said for most new furniture, green or otherwise.
9. Buy local
Just like the food on the dinner plate, we might be amazed how many miles the constituent parts of a piece of furniture might have had to travel in order to reach us. If possible, source furniture close to home. This will support the local economy, small craftspeople, and decrease the environmental cost of shipping (not to mention the other kind of cost).
10. What to do with it when you’re over it
We can’t promise we’re going to like something forever or that our furnishing needs won’t change. When it’s time to bid a chair, table, bed, or dresser farewell, make sure it goes to a good home. Sell it on Craigslist, eBay, or the local paper, give it away via Freecycle, or include it in your next yard sale. Putting it safely on the curb with a “free” sign on it can also do the trick. If you are the crafty type, lots of furniture can be repurposed into new functions or just freshened up with new paint or finish. No sturdy artifact should have to live out eternity in the landfill.
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If it’s your mission to get deeper into the green furniture space, put on your designer’s smock and start tinkering. Think about refurbishing old furniture or entirely repurposing other objects, like this bathtub turned arm chair. In this design, a clever individual speced out a top-notch chair from heavy-duty fabric-covered cardboard tubes, aluminum rings, and wood. Heavy-duty cardboard can be fashioned to interlock in creative ways. If you’ve got fertile ground and some time to spare you can even grow your own furniture to suit. The Spanish group Drap-Art has a reuse festival that is ripe with ideas.
1. The average person spends 90% of his or her time indoors. The vast majority of those people also breathe while indoors.
2. The Rainforest Alliance, using the FSC’s forest management standards, has certified over 96 million acres of forest in 58 countries.
3. Concentrations of VOCs and particulates can be more than 100 times higher in indoor spaces than outside.
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1. If wood is FSC certified, this means that the forest it was cut from is managed in a way that allows the natural ecosystem to maintain itself—in other words, it stays a forest. In theory, a well-managed forest can continue to produce wood indefinitely. This is the opposite of clear-cutting, where whole forests are leveled at once and the ecosystem is demolished (unless you consider the opposite of clear-cutting to be not cutting at all). Look for FSC certified wood.
2. There are two sides to every coin, however. Sustainable forestry does still have an impact on the forest, and still has the potential to damage the ecosystem and habitats within. Tree farms can be monocultures devoid of biodiversity, and can be treated with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, just like non-organic food crops. They can also be genetically modified, which creates the risk of altered trees invading natural ecosystems in the wild. It’s always good to ask questions about where your wood comes from, but answers can sometimes be hard to come by.
3. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): In the words of Environmental Building News: “Carbon-based substances that occir as gases under typical ambient air temperature and pressure. For the purposes of regulating air pollutants, EPA and other agencies include only compounds that contribute to smog in the definition of VOCs. For indoor air quality purposes the definition is not limited in that way. There are also semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that don’t become gaseous as readily but are still found in indoor air. Those most commonly identified as chemicals of concern are pesticides, flame retardants, and phthalates. Finally, microbial VOCs are generated and released as a result of microbial growth.” (EBN Vol. 15, No. 9, 2005)
4.The main groups offering air quality certification for indoor furnishings are:
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We’re always coming across new and exciting green furnishing design for the home. Also dig into our Design and Architecture category or search TreeHugger.com for keyword 'furniture.'
Best of TreeHugger: Sustainable Designers parts I, II, III, IV.
Sleeping Beauties (a roundup of beds)
Where to find Greenguard certified office furniture
Some beautiful examples of bamboo furniture include: the work of Sandor Pratt, the morphing Futaba love seat/coffee table, and the tables and chairs of Gorilla Furniture.
Ancient Modes recycled wood furniture
Pacific Green uses Palmwood, a wood they originally found on abandoned coconut palm plantations in the South Pacific, which they sought out as an alternative to the destructive harvesting of tropical hardwoods.
Harttman and Forbes makes window dressings from organic and renewable resources like papyrus and bamboo, and even has a take back program for when their products are ready for a new life.
Bemz slipcovers are specifically designed to give new life to threadbare Ikea furniture.
Piet Hein Eek are makers of lovely Dutch furniture artfully constructed from scrap wood.
Furnature has a wide range of products made with sustainable and recycled materials, especially suited for people with chemical sensitivities.
Crate & Barrel’s bamboo Bento Collection (pricing $1000 and up for larger pieces)
Bamboo veneer bed by John Kelly Furniture
The Tio lounge chair from New Zealand lets its owner change its outfit.
Edo Style Japanese bed from Haiku Designs made of farm grown mahogany
Modern Bamboo, formerly known as Adapt Design, lots of tasty bamboo creations made of Plyboo from Smith & Fong, including stools and the Spring chair.
Woodshanti is a worker-owned cooperative from San Francisco. They are certified by SmartWood to label their products as harvested from well managed, FSC certified forests.
Pacific Rim, from Eugene, OR, sells sustainable beds and other furniture with hand rubbed with natural finishes.
The Swiss designed and made Chmoebel line is constructed of pieces that fit so snugly they require no glues, screws, or fasteners or any kind.
Benchmark makes furniture from FSC certified wood and natural upholstery.
Rogan Objects, from father of Loomstate organic denim.
Cohda has eclectic modern chairs made from reprocessed discarded plastic bags.
Kirei board in an enticing engineered wood material.
Furnishings from Koskela are high-end and super stylish.
Cork is a renewable wood that is resilient and weathers well. TreeHugger has covered examples of cork in the form of a chaise, a stool, fabric, and a great many other things.
EPA’s page dedicated to Indoor Air Quality
EPA’s page for Indoor Air Quality in Homes
The US EPA’s page on formaldehyde
Indoor Air Quality Emission Simulation Tool (IA-QUEST)
McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry
Rainforest Alliance’s Smartwood Program
I have some old furniture that I care about that I would like to have re-apholtered, but it seems I have not been able to find anyone who can fill the old furniture with anything but foam. I live in Chicago. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you,
penelope
I love the idea of sustainable and environmentally safe furniture, but I can't seem to find anything in the traditional styles I like. I live in CT. Does anyone have any suggestions?
I am looking to buy some nice furniture for my patio. i'd like to have something environment friendly and really contemporary in style. I just cannot seem to find the perfect peice. I live in Denver. Any suggestions where I might find something?
Greta
I am curious where the furnishings that are pictured in this piece are from. I am particularly interested in the bookcase unit, the chair with the tube like structures and the sculptural bamboo (?) chaise. Does anyone know where these pieces can be found?
Thanks,
Ruby
Just in case there are some UK people reading this we've just set up a new company making bespoke furniture for the home and garden from reclaimed wood. If you're ever in Brighton we'd be delighted to see you! Ethical Wood Furnishings
Great article on green furniture. Especially the design-orientation......some really cool design possibilities out there.
In Georgia, Waldenour..an EcoDesign Source www.waldenour.com can work with you to have your furniture re-upolstered using organic cotton and natural foam rubber for the core, plus use organic cotton fabrics.
You need to be a little more careful about the bamboo in flooring and wood furniture - indeed it's a fast-growing grass, but because of that, the amount of formaldehyde glue they have to use to stick it together dwarfs what domestic materials like particleboard are using.
Not to mention, the thought of shipping that stuff half way around the world just doesn't stand up to the snicker test - you won't achieve sustainability by forcing the additional usage of petroleum based fuels.
There is no better way to stay green than to NOT buy new furniture and simply recycle that which already exists. Here is a web site: http://www.usedfurniturefindex.com which is devoted to recycling used furniture. If you have something you are looking for, look here first. If you want to give new life to a beloved piece of furniture, list it here.
If everybody recycled furniture, it would go a long way to reducing the amount of resources required to make new.
To Jessica Abarca in CT. There is a great eco-friendly furniture maker in Plainville, Massachusetts (near the RI border) who makes mainly traditionial furniture out of reclaimed wood. Staples Cabinet Makers (www.staplescabinetmakers.com) - Stephen Staples is a fabulous wealth of knowledge on green furniture and has a huge sh owroom and can work with you to design a piece.
He also makes fun, modern pieces as well -- a very talented designer
I'm looking for some ideas on green bedding.
I've researched a lot about latex, cotton and wool. I'm particularly interested in wool. I suffer from a sore back and wool seems to be the best solution for me.
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice they could offer? Where has anyone purchased these items?
I'm looking for some ideas on green bedding.
I've researched a lot about latex, cotton and wool. I'm particularly interested in wool. I suffer from a sore back and wool seems to be the best solution for me.
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice they could offer? Where has anyone purchased these items?
I'm looking for some ideas on green bedding.
I've researched a lot about latex, cotton and wool. I'm particularly interested in wool. I suffer from a sore back and wool seems to be the best solution for me.
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice they could offer? Where has anyone purchased these items?
My company, Asian Art Imports, has been supplying home decor made from recycled and sustainable woods for years. My wife and I run the company and do all of the sourcing. We offer contemporary designs. Much of our line uses wood that would have otherwise simply been discarded. Our website is www.asianartimports.com
Thank you,
Wally Stryk 818 778 0852
So I'm new to going green, and trying to be thorough, I'm very much a researcher. I'm trying to find a list of popular companies that are eco-friendly. I have been searching online all day, and have only found one site (for the UK), which wasn't much help to me. Is there a site like this around? Pottery Barn is what triggered this list-hunting, so even if you don't know of a list-- an answer to Pottery Barn's eco-savviness would be great!!!
I am also new to the whole tree hugging idea but, very interested!
I own a woodworking company in Georgia and saving trees has been the last thing on my mind until tonight. I look forward to learning how I can do more.
Thanks
My web site has been renamed to furniturefindex.com (it had been usedfurniturefindex.com) because I have found that furniture stores and manufacturers are hoarding perfectly good furniture because it is discontinued, returned, damaged or just showroom samples. By using this web site, you can now get a peek into the "back room" and reduce the need to make new by grabbing what already exists. Please check it out: http://www.furniturefindex.com and help recycle home furnishings, new and once loved.
I agree with comments on used green upholstery
"There is no better way to stay green than to NOT buy new furniture and simply recycle that which already exists.
If everybody recycled furniture, it would go a long way to reducing the amount of resources required to make new."
I would and even add new green upholstered furniture even a fsc certified wood is still a cut down tree.
ADVANTAGES ARE
reducing landfill.......less Resoures......Recycled Old furniture is built 10 times better than new furniture and was originally made from natural materials...........most new upholstered furniture has over 70% oil products,polyurathane,dacron,webbing,deckings,ect........ Locally purchased at a small cost or even free........reupholstery furniture can be restyled by cutting frame,adding or removing padding or just cosmetically with welts,no welts ,decor nails,trimmings,design.....lower cost...
We do all of this at Michaelsupholstery.com in San Rafael California . We make new or re-upolstered furniture to order using organic cotton and natural rubber , plus use organic cotton and recycled fabrics, which can be shipped to your local upholsterer.
one of the best oft-overlooked furniture style is wicker. Wicker furniture can be made from a variety of products, and use smaller reed style biomass instead of larger diameter plants. larger diameter plants often take longer to grow and then therefore takes longer to renew than with smaller style vegetation. Also, because emphasis is placed on smaller sized materials, a larger portion of biomass grown is used in construction of the furniture.
Other benefits of using wicker are found in the production practices. Because wicker is weaved instead of cut, it often requires human labour, which is socially better and uses less energy. Weaving also means it doesn't require the same amount of metal hardware, it can be made comfortable without cushions, and is light weight and durable, reducing transportation costs, embodied energy, and increasing longevity.
A lot of tertiary benefits are also found with wicker: Flexible materials means it can be made from many geographically distributed products so the chances of finding locally sourced materials is high. It requires relatively low amounts of energy to produce. A whole essay could be written on the benefits of wicker production, (indeed, a colleague of mine is writing his master's thesis on wicker), but the short end of the story is that wicker can be a fantastic product.
Hi,
I think using FSC certified wood is an a good start. What I don't like is the fact that many of the FSC products are still shipped around the world.... Not so sustainable in my mind.
At www.ecofurniture.ca we believe that only using local fast growing soft wood is way more sustainable and also keeps local saw mills up and running.
We have quite a bit of information on that on our website, please feel free to contact us to find out more!
Cheers,
Andreas Schwall
Owner of Eco Furniture.ca
When shopping for second hand furniture, what should one be wary of? I know foam is bad, especially as it gets older and crumbly, so does this mean a second hand sofa is a no-go? I'm starting to "nest" after college and need furniture, and would prefer to buy used for both "reuse" and price.
I recently acquired a previously loved leather sofa, and am wondering what it may be releasing into my home...
When shopping for second hand furniture, what should one be wary of? I know foam is bad, especially as it gets older and crumbly, so does this mean a second hand sofa is a no-go? I'm starting to "nest" after college and need furniture, and would prefer to buy used for both "reuse" and price.
I recently acquired a previously loved leather sofa, and am wondering what it may be releasing into my home...
I recently found a shop north of Chicago that specializes in recycling old furniture through decorative painting as well as a variety of custom finishes. The shop is called Turn the Tables, located in the Sale Barn Square in Wheeling, IL.
The work they do there is really creative. You can buy furniture (both vintage pieces and antiques) in the store itself and have it customized, or bring in your own piece for them to work on. The owner, Melly Schwartz, does pretty amazing work. Her finished pieces are on par with or better than most pieces of furniture you'd buy new at a furniture store. And as she's using an old piece of furniture to start with, it ends up being unique and individual, rather than a cookie cutter piece out of the Pottery Barn catalog.
I recently found a shop north of Chicago that specializes in recycling old furniture through decorative painting as well as a variety of custom finishes. The shop is called Turn the Tables, located in the Sale Barn Square in Wheeling, IL.
The work they do there is really creative. You can buy furniture (both vintage pieces and antiques) in the store itself and have it customized, or bring in your own piece for them to work on. The owner, Melly Schwartz, does pretty amazing work. Her finished pieces are on par with or better than most pieces of furniture you'd buy new at a furniture store. And as she's using an old piece of furniture to start with, it ends up being unique and individual, rather than a cookie cutter piece out of the Pottery Barn catalog.
I recently found a shop north of Chicago that specializes in recycling old furniture through decorative painting as well as a variety of custom finishes. The shop is called Turn the Tables, located in the Sale Barn Square in Wheeling, IL.
The work they do there is really creative. You can buy furniture (both vintage pieces and antiques) in the store itself and have it customized, or bring in your own piece for them to work on. The owner, Melly Schwartz, does pretty amazing work. Her finished pieces are on par with or better than most pieces of furniture you'd buy new at a furniture store. And as she's using an old piece of furniture to start with, it ends up being unique and individual, rather than a cookie cutter piece out of the Pottery Barn catalog.
i want to replace most of the "non-green" furniture in a furnished apartment. Can anyone give me reasonable locations to purchase used and healthy products??
Many companies claim to be eco furniture but being carbon neutral is not enough. Other companies are “green washing”. If furniture uses petroleum-based foam (even if mixed with soy) or toxic glues or dyes, it is not environmentally friendly.
At Pure we believe you don’t need to sacrifice design to save the planet. Our collections are 100% environmentally and socially sustainable furniture aimed to minimize our impact on the world.
www.purebyamimckay.com
We are very proud of the sustainable nature of our furniture. We design eco-chic case goods and upholstered furniture all knowing what we choose impacts our ecosystems. Our pieces also help create healthier indoor air quality. Every aspect of PURE furniture is environmentally, socially, and health conscious. All materials are biodegradable or sustainable and will never hurt the environment. Each piece is locally handcrafted by artisans to your specifications using the highest quality sustainable materials available:
a. biodegradable, natural latex rubber core
b. FSC certified hardwood frames
c. Organic cotton batting
d. Renewable jute and latex webbing
e. Non-toxic (no-VOC) adhesives and wood finishes
f. OEKO-tex certified wool fabrics
g. recycled staples
We believe each of us can make a difference by making one good choice for the environment. We also use recycled shipping materials and are sourcing biodegradable materials too! Thanks for listening.
Teresa
Many companies claim to be eco furniture but being carbon neutral is not enough. Other companies are “green washing”. If furniture uses petroleum-based foam (even if mixed with soy) or toxic glues or dyes, it is not environmentally friendly.
At Pure we believe you don’t need to sacrifice design to save the planet. Our collections are 100% environmentally and socially sustainable furniture aimed to minimize our impact on the world.
www.purebyamimckay.com
We are very proud of the sustainable nature of our furniture. We design eco-chic case goods and upholstered furniture all knowing what we choose impacts our ecosystems. Our pieces also help create healthier indoor air quality. Every aspect of PURE furniture is environmentally, socially, and health conscious. All materials are biodegradable or sustainable and will never hurt the environment. Each piece is locally handcrafted by artisans to your specifications using the highest quality sustainable materials available:
a. biodegradable, natural latex rubber core
b. FSC certified hardwood frames
c. Organic cotton batting
d. Renewable jute and latex webbing
e. Non-toxic (no-VOC) adhesives and wood finishes
f. OEKO-tex certified wool fabrics
g. recycled staples
We believe each of us can make a difference by making one good choice for the environment. We also use recycled shipping materials and are sourcing biodegradable materials too! Thanks for listening.
Teresa
Any ideas of mattress recycling in the mid-atlantic area (VA/DC/MD) I know of a few in California, but was wondering if anyone knew of one a little closer to the east coast I can take mine to?
Thanks!
Cool furniture store .
Recyeled or previously used furniture & using sustainable materials for fcurniture building is getting more popular every day. That is why we started carrying a line of furniture that is either previuosly used and/or more sustainable than conventional furniture.
In particular we have a line of furniture called Wine2Night that is crafted out of the thousands of oak wine barrels that are thrown away each year. Not only does this make sense, but the designs are very unique and have a disctinct wine country flair. http://www.sonomagifts.com/wine2night.html
The same manufacurer creates a "lodge style" furniture out of antique, or previously used lumber. http://www.sonomagifts.com/2day-design-furniture-collection.html
In addition there is a company called Totally Bamboo that crafts kitchen carts and Director chairs out of bamboo. Absolutely fantastic designs. http://www.sonomagifts.com/totally-bamboo-kitchen-carts.html
Hope these give some ideas and examples of sustainable or previously used furniture ideas.