When we speak about environmentally friendly furniture we’re referring to furniture that conserves the spaces we live in. We also try to understand how society is offering alternative materials for the beds we sleep in, the couches we sit on and the tables we eat off. Vis.A.Vis reports two opinions from folks involved in using eco-conscious furniture, and reveals several unique  shopping destinations for green living inside the home.

Chris Kingsley, founder and President of Brownstone Furniture, creates quality manufactured furniture with innovative and timeless designs at an affordable price. Working with fine-grade environmentally friendly woods and American-made finishing materials, gives Chris an advantage in the furniture space. Taking his vast enterprising experience, Chris alongside his brother and business partner, Clay, formed Kingsley-Bate Furniture (KBate). Known in the industry as one of the more polished builders of environmentally friendly outdoor teak furniture, KBate became the first company to provide environmental controls on the wood they use for production. KBate uses Javanese teak in the manufacturing of its furniture which is harvested from carefully controlled plantations (established in Indonesia by the Dutch in the mid-19th century).

“With Kingsley-Bate furniture we use plantation grown teak, which is not a rainforest wood and is all grown in managed plantations,” states Chris. “We founded the company due to the market demands for teak, during a time, 25 years ago, when people did not care if wood was plantation grown.” As far as what the future holds for other companies using environmentally friendly practices in the furniture business Chris claims, “It is all consumer and market driven. I think furniture companies will take more care about the environment when the consumer demands it; if they don’t businesses won’t think of the environment when picking materials for their furniture.”

One stop shop for contemporary design
Our second in-the-green retail space comes from Sunil Wagle of Eco-Furniture.com. Sunil explains, “The premise for creating our website was to do something great for the environment before it became ‘fashionable.’ We searched for products that were eco-friendly and very mainstream, revealing that a consumer did not have to sacrifice style or price for environmentally friendly furniture. Essentially, the market demand for eco friendly fashionable products at great price points is what enabled us to begin our business.” Eco-Furniture.com serves as a retail shopping destination for furniture made using recycled materials, ecologically harvested timber, and other earth friendly ingredients. Wagle’s thoughts on whether environmental conscious furniture manufacturers will increase in the near term. “I do think that furniture manufacturers will catch on faster and faster as we are truly showing them a large amount of business and are proving to them that customers do in fact care about the environment and whether their furniture is made in an environmentally friendly manner.”

Modern Design
Taking a more modern approach to contemporary lighting, personal accessories, art, and eco friendly products for the home and office is 2Modern|eco. Co-founders of 2Modern, Greg Finney and Jennifer Sitko incorporate 2Modern|eco into their retail web space which includes manufactures who support reclaimed wood, recycled parts, or fair-trade certification. Here are a few of the earth friendly lines featured on their web space.

Mebel takes wood via certified sources which practice sustainable forest management and reduce impact logging.

Campbell Laird is a pioneer for water based pigment ink printing in which no solvents of any kind are used from the initial inking process to the final varnish.

Cotton Monkey’s claim to fame is chic modern items for kids and babies mixed with elements of organic designs that are environmentally sensitive for children.

Looloo Textiles offers a product range of biodegradable and organic interior furnishings. All of their products are lined with organic cotton and filled with kapok from the rainforests of Malaysia.

A high-end approach
Take cutting edge design and mix it with very forward thinking minds and the outcome is Vivavi. Their approach to green living spaces is twofold, through retail and real estate. Via their web space a vast array of award wining designers offer environmentally friendly furniture and a plethora of resources in the United States and Canada for green builders, architects and designers under their sister site, Modern Green Living.