Why should you favour eco-friendly and sustainable furniture?
Our awareness about green home and living is growing rapidly, but eco-friendly home consists of many details. Furniture is one of them and what it is made of influences our health and environment as well.
You always have a choice on what kind of quality you want to have in your life. The more natural and organic choices don’t necessarily have to be the more expensive ones. Not to mention, expensive is not a guarantee for a better quality. It’s more important to be conscious about the materials we surround ourselves with and understand the influence they have on our health and the environment. The awareness of what our furniture is made of is unfortunately relatively low as is the knowledge on how these materials influence our health and the environment.
The furniture sector often uses artificial materials like HDF (High Density Fibre) and MDF (medium Density Fibre) wood, which are made of powdered wood bonded with glue and compressed to form sheets. Why is it so important to understand the difference between artificial and natural materials? Because poor indoor air quality as well as numerous health problems are quite often the result of being in constant contact with harmful toxins that come from our furniture. VOC (Volatile organic compounds) that have high vapor pressure at ordinary room temperature is quite dangerous. It causes a large number of molecules to evaporate or sublimate from the liquid or solid form of the compound and enter the surrounding air thus being a threat to our health.
Sources of VOC’s:
Paint, varnishes, caulks, adhesives
Carpet, vinyl flooring
Composite wood products
Upholstery and foam
Several studies suggest that exposure to VOCs may make symptoms worse for people who have asthma or are particularly sensitive to chemicals.
When you are choosing furniture you should know that wood is not only good for your health, but also a renewable and sustainable resource. But bear in mind that only a forest managed in an environmental friendly and sustainable way is saving our planet. According to this way processed forest and forest products can have FSC certification. This system ensures that a forest is well-managed.
Pure Domus e-shop offers a nice selection of small Scandinavian style natural furniture pieces that are suitable for every interior or room. They are simple, functional and timeless. Also, our furniture range will keep expanding as we go along!
Be smart and conscious in your choices!