Furniture-carbon footprint..

[Guest guest]

 

When you look to buying new furniture, do you ever consider it'scarbon footprint? What comprises the carbon footprint of, say a couch?You have to consider each component of the couch from the wood for theframe to the metal for the springs, bolts and nuts to the foam forpadding and the fabric that comprises the outer covering. The woodthat comprises your furniture is most likely going to have the largestfootprint of the components second only to the foam padding. If theframe is totally interior to the couch, it's more than likely going tobe made of pine. Furniture with external wood showing is likely to bemade of cherry, oak, teak, bamboo or walnut. Domestic woods (in theUS) such as cherry, oak and walnut will have a lower footprint thanteak or bamboo simply because the woods aren't transported as far andalso because US methods of harvesting wood is fairly efficient. Woodsthat come from third world countries such as teak and bamboo not onlyhave the distance transported comprising their footprint, but may alsocome from sources where human rights issues come into play. Some teakcomes from Miranmar which has so much been in the news lately with theattempts by humanitarian aid groups to get aid supplies to thosehundreds of thousands of people left homeless by the typhoon of nearlya month ago. And it's the deforestation caused by the harvesting ofteak that created some of the terrain that contributed to the amountof devastation experienced by the Miramese people. Teak furniture isdurable, beautiful and has many other properties that make it highlydesirable. But at what cost to those who harvest it, to the countriesthat experience the issues surrounding deforestation of old growthforests. Before buying that lovely patio set, give a thought to thosewho are starving in Miranmar.http://eyespi20.com/whats-the-carbon-footprint-of-your-furniture