BuyGreen: Sofas and Loveseats

Another green option is buying used. I found a great Room & Board sofa on Craigslist last year. Furniture consignment shops are another great place to look.

Y ah these seem nice and even one said it had recycled post consumer content in it but for that price it should all be mad from 100% recycled content in it why make the frame from wood when you could use steel made from 100% recycled steel for that price any ways they don't even tell you how much contains recycled content for all I know it could contain 1% and thats only the back cushions.

The green option is getting a couch that already exists.

There is enough furniture in this world already that you do not need to create the market for more "stuff" to be created!!!

Perhaps ignorant question - but what about leather? If the leather is local. Wouldn't it surpass many other fabrics in longevity?

One correction, regarding "aesthetic needs": aesthetics is not a need, it's a want, and a superficial one at that. Not that we're not all prone to that want--but it's a want.

Thanks for providing this listing. It's ridiculous how difficult it is to get green furniture in this day and age--it's hard to find, expensive, and used furniture is often so toxic as to be almost worse than new. Hopefully this green trend will grow (and, if nothing else, result in more 'green' used furniture eventually!).

Kevin, aesthetic needs are firmly in the middle of Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs.

I love that furniture! And it is really no more expensive than high end YUCK furniture.

I LOVE YOU GREEN GUIDE

To answer a comment above,
"Perhaps ignorant question - but what about leather? If the leather is local. Wouldn't it surpass many other fabrics in longevity?"

Leather is not sustainable, raising animals for the food & lifestyle sectors has become a huge eco diesaster, not to mention that at this point there are little to no regulations on the animals raised for these industries.n Also, the"tanning" of leather is an ultra polluting practice, using massive chemicals to condition and color it.

I agree that the best furniture is used, however like the fact that i wish so badly people would stop eating and using animal products its just not realistic. Its great that people in the lifestyle industry are trying to implement change. Until we the greedy human race no longer demand "new" its important to implement chane in all existing industry so we can gradually and gently guide people who dont yet know any better.

Another thing to consider is to buy used and just replace the cover.

http://www.bemz.com/
Bemz offers a ton of color and material options for sofas and chairs. They specialize in IKEA furniture, but I am sure there are other companies like it that offer more varieties.

Please note that you dropped the name of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI, in the "Why" explanation for Crate & Barrel's loveseat.

As Treehugger has pointed out, the SFI is a designation created by the logging industry, and several groups, from the Rainforest Action Network to the Sierra Club, have dismissed it as non-credible.

The only certification you can trust is from the Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC.

I second Rebecca's comment about leather and would like to further relay that using down as stuffing is no friendlier than killing a cow to make cushions.

Birds don't generally molt enough to provide enough stuffing -- if you catch my drift... Plus, from a health standpoint -- they are much less hypoallergenic.

finally, shouldn't we be demanding specificity in terms of hardwoods used. "hardwood" is not a species and as consumers we should not be so naive as to believe 1. wood is sustainable and 2. all woods are equal in sustainability (think of growth rates, felling vs planting rates, processes to transform a living plant into an end table)

LEE Furniture industries has made a green upholstery option for about a year or two now... they may be the ones to make the sofa at crate and barrel. The difference is they give you the option on all of their products.

I'm currently shopping and recently became acquainted with Rowe Furniture. I was pleased to notice that they tout their "Green" features. They claim to be a founding member of the "Sustainable Furniture Council", and their choices of fabrics include hemp. Anyone have any more info on Rowe?

i like the first one, it seems comfotbal

Hello. Another interesting trend that will show up soon is a mix of traditional and modern styles. For example the sofa will have traidtional wooden legs with modern design or different. I saw it and it looks cool. More like gothic style. I was in moscow furniture mart last year and they showcased a sofas with handles looking like a lions. Awesome

beautifull sofas. There is one interesting company that is very hard to find in the States, it is italian IL LOFT. I was many product of it in Moscow and it really rocks, they have a very interesting play with colors and contrasts. About 1000 different colors on a sofas, trully state of the art.

I have been searching for months for a sustainable slipcovered sectional but I can't find one. Does anyone have any advice?

There is a site/company called homereserve.com, they do not sell in stores. In my opinion, they have very sustainable furniture. I purchanced a couch and chair for $600 plus shipping. Although assembly is required, it's so easy, someone who never put anything together could follow the instructions! Since assembly is required, much of the packaging for shipment is reduced. Some designs allow you to machine wash sections of the fabric or replace sections of the fabric or frame work due to everyday damage or just a change in the look instead of buying another peice of furniture. My wife and I find it very comfortable and plan to use and "reuse" it whenever we have the chance.

Excuse me; to the people who are upset about leather and feathers:

Slaughterhouses sell the skin of the animals to tanning shops to be used. This way the whole animal is being used; it is not just being killed for the meat. With the way y'all are talking you make it sound like animals are being killed just for their skin/feathers and that isn't so. Part of being enviromentally conscienous is not being wasteful. Hence, the whole idea that recycling is a good thing. If an animal will be killed for food, the best thing to do is to make sure that all parts of that animal are used. Not only that, but if people were to stop killing living things for food what would we eat? Studies have shown that trees have heartbeats, so maybe corn does too. Everything living thing eats the dead of another. Besides what do y'all think soil is made of? Decaying organic matter a.k.a. dead bodies.

Your facts are simply wrong. First off the tanning process of leather(as mentioned) is very environmentally degrading, from the chemicals, polluiton and by-products and the amount of energy used. Also, your facts on slaughethouses is not true. Most american leather is imported, this means that it is not coming from all the cattle, pigs, etc that are slaughtered in the US for food....AND we are the largest consumers of meat in the world. Most of the leather you are buying in the US is coming from India and China where regulations are worse then here. They are being raised for the leather and nothing else so many times the animals are not fed properly among other things. Also other "mystery" leathers are used in products as well. It's not as clear cut as you proclaim it to be.

As far as your take on living things, well where do I start. The simple answer is two fold, one ...the environmental impact of raising animals for food and products put any ENOURMOUS strain on our environment. Not only from a pollution stand point, but an energy and water consumption standpoint. How effecient do you think it is to feed something 7lbs of corn and water to create 1lbs of food(meat). Not exactly sustainable.

Secondly, I was not aware the trees had indeed a heart, therefore being able to relize a heartbeat. I don't here to many vegetarians talking about not eating anything living. I am going to go out on a limb here and make things simple. I don't eat anything with a central nervous system. I don't eat or use products from things that feel hunger when they are hungy, feel fear when they are afraid, and feel pain when they are hurt(all of the same feelings you feel).

I hope this clears up some of your misconceptions.

Lee industries makes a very quality, eco-friendly sofa. High Fashion Home had a nice summation on what makes Lee's sofas so great.

http://blog.highfashionhome.com/2008/05/earth-friendly-upholstery-by-lee.html

I am a newbie and have very little knowledge about furniture of any kind. That being said, I have been searching for a eco-friendly sofa and recliner that have arms which are either removable or can decline (high arms). I like to lie on my seating furniture, but the armrests are always uncormfortable. If I am not mistaking, either Tom Ford and/or Tommy Hillfiger designs/ed a modulor sofa with arms that are remover/decline? I will check the I-net to verify. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.