USA society is changing its relationship with the environment and becoming aware of the problems it faces (air, water, and soil pollution to name a few). The furniture sector is becoming more and more concerned and is careful to minimize the impact on humans and nature in its production. The brand gradually offers materials eco, eco-designed objects, and furniture made in the USA.Little by little, eco-friendly decor tends to become more democratic.
Just like consuming local and sustainable has become a standard. Promote the circular economy recycling, reusing and repairing also helps to preserve the planet. How to defend these values in decoration? How to try to reconcile style and ethics? How to furnish oneself with a good conscience? We take stock.
In recent years, we have been paying more attention to the products we consume. Both food, household products, and cosmetics. We try to sort our waste and prefer the bike to the car for small trips. The environmental problems are a major issue in our society. More brands promote recyclable packaging and short circuits. Moreover, the question that is often asked before buying a product is “where does it come from?” and “how was it made?”
If until then, the decoration industry did not feel directly targeted by these ethical questions, things change. And the eco-friendly approach is beginning to point the tip of his nose in this area. There are even ecological decorators who guide you in the choice of respectful materials, including the quality of indoor air. New brands are emerging, defending values such as local manufacturing and sustainable consumption. The eco-friendly decoration seems to have a bright future ahead of it. Sustainable furniture, ecological paints, and objects made in the USA: here are some ways to furnish yourself in a more ethical and healthy way.
Eco-Friendly Decoration: A Real Awareness
Much more than a trend, it is a real questioning of consumer codes. If we pay attention to what we eat, then why not be alert to the objects around us? The eco- friendly decoration is defined on several levels: first, it is an ecological decoration that takes into account the environmental impact with so-called ‘natural’ objects.
They are made with local materials, which contain as little as possible of harmful products: it’s slow design. This approach mainly makes it possible to work on the indoor air quality (healthy products, with the lowest Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content possible). In a second time, manufacturing and transport are important criteria. With local production – even European in some cases – in order to limit energy expenditure and focus on American know-how. Finally, the ethical and solidarity criterion is taken into account. The rules of fair trade must be respected with increased vigilance regarding working conditions, the environment, and the purchase price.
An approach that all brands do not yet take into account, but that already seems obvious for others. Created in 1947 and taken over in 2019, Camif is committed to local and responsible manufacturing. “We strive to have perfect traceability throughout the entire production line,” says Magali Borlet, head of the Camif collections, “Even if the final contact is the confectioner, we make sure that the whole upstream chain is American: miscegenation, weaving, printing or painting.
“Transparency is a strong asset to this company. It is important for customers to know where their products come from. Two years ago, they created a ‘ sustainable repository ‘ which constrains them in their specifications with the suppliers and the manufacturers, on environmental standards: “We take orientations like these, rather strong, which are binding, but of which we are proud”.
The limits of eco-friendly decoration
The eco-friendly decoration is subject to many constraints. For starters, there are certain points of activity that can not be repatriated to the USA. This is the case of bathing: there is no longer a die in the hexagon. The brand Camif makes sure to return certain know-how but unfortunately, it is not yet possible 100%: “85% of our offer is in American manufacturing, explains Magali Ballet. not in our positioning, so we work mainly in Europe “. For an eco-friendly decoration, there are a number of checkboxes; very few are the furniture that validates them all.
Not only is it difficult to provide oneself entirely in the USA, but even if one wanted it, it would be extremely expensive. The easiest way is, therefore, to provide oneself in Europe and to make certain compromises: “It is better to buy a piece of furniture to manufacture far away but with natural materials, produced in a fair way or craft, than a piece of furniture made in the USA in a factory that ‘s not a very good carbon footprint, “says Patricia François, eco-responsible decorator.
Eco-Responsible Approach: The Decorators Get Down To It
This is the case that Patricia François, who for five years, is specialized in ecological decoration. With one of her latest projects, rue Oberkampf in the 11th district of New York, the decorator has seen the limits of this approach: the customer sensitive to environmental issues has used his services in order to redevelop an old apartment of the Haussmannian type. The original wooden floor of the living room has been preserved; even if, in view of the redevelopment – part of the kitchen became the living room – it was necessary to find a floor continuity in a material recovery store. Also, the client wanted to have a cabinetmaker for the manufacture of a table with an inlaid tree trunk.
But the eco-friendly decoration has found its limits in the modern kitchen that contrasts with the rest of the decoration: “Apart from making a custom kitchen all wood by a carpenter – which would be very expensive – it is almost impossible to find a real ecological approach in the world of cooking, “laments Patricia François. Indeed, some cooks produce locally but use glulam timber boxes; and not solid wood, more expensive.
An eco-friendly decoration adapts to all styles. If one tends to associate it with rather rustic interiors, it remains difficult to instantly recognize the responsible development of a classic. “Natural materials such as wood or stone can be used, but distinguishing a lino from a PVC is not necessarily obvious at a glance, explains Patricia François. We will be able to create any style In an ecological approach, note that eco-responsible decoration is a step, not a style. When we are going to hunt for furniture, they can have a classic, chic side … so we can not recognize it with the eye bare.”
An eco-friendly decoration in my interior
First of all, the most important surfaces of the house must be taken into account: floors, walls, and ceilings. Choosing the right non-toxic wallpaper, eco-friendly, VOC-free paint, and natural materials are fundamental to indoor air quality.
For example, the brand Algo offers natural paint made from seaweed in Brittany. As for the Gassen brand, it offers modular wall shelves that use little material except for wood from eco-managed forests. There is also wallpaper made with a high proportion of recycled paper (preferably coat the paper with an ecological glue of vegetable origin ). For a vegan decoration – and therefore respectful of animals, produced without animal matter -, the Norman brand Shandormanufactures posters, wall hangings and cushions with recycled fabric and vegetable inks.
In terms of eco-friendly materials, we focus on solid wood (not glued or laminated wood), cork, bamboo, slate, recycled plastic or even Krion®. The finishes are to watch, especially the varnish used. It is also important to have fabrics without the polyester, to ban all synthetic products and with the presence of VOCs. As a vegetable alternative to leather or synthetics from petroleum, it is possible to lean towards Piñatex.
The price of an eco-friendly decoration
In general, the eco-friendly decoration seems more expensive than a classic decoration. Indeed, the use of natural or certified materials is more expensive. But it is important to consider profitability over time. Take the example of ecological painting: the price per liter is more expensive, it takes on average 20% more than for a classic painting, however, the paint is more covering, so it requires fewer layers. The decor eco uses quality products and therefore sustainable. While the purchase cost may be higher, but the life is extended, and the product is cheaper, smoothed over 10, 20 or 30 years.
It is also possible to turn to second-hand objects. There are sales sites between individuals, flea markets or garage sales, where to find objects or antique furniture that are only waiting to find a new youth. This circular economy contributes to creating a sustainable decoration. Good to know: old furniture is less harmful, volatile gases disperse over time.
Responsible brands that rely on recovery
Some responsible brands such as Tiptoe rely on this principle of recovery: “In the design and manufacture of our products, everything is sourced sustainably, explains Célia Boulbes, marketing and communication manager of the brand. We use wood certified with PEFC label, in from sustainably managed forests, we try to evolve and use products from the revalorization. As with the recycled plastic tabletop, from only pots of yogurt. We would also like to set up a circular system of our products are repackaged, for example when they are damaged, they are refurbished to prevent the creation of materials, with the aim of a global responsible commitment.”
Tiptoe is a young eco-friendly company founded in 2015. It aims to make furniture design, smart, and strong: “We want to create objects that give pleasure, we want to keep and which ensures that the products and materials are responsible .
” Where brands leave the furniture every month, the young brand takes longer to release a product: it is a slow design approach, consume less but better, with a longer life and a timeless design. “We want the furniture to be used from generation to generation .” All their products have several colors available. The modular foot, for example, the brand’s icon, made from steel – the most recycled material in the world – exists in different colors, to blend in with many atmospheres!
Every year, more than 10 million tons of furniture are thrown in Europe. Tiptoe encourages reuse in another way. For example, an old tray or door can be transformed with a modular foot into a booster desk or dining room table: “It is important to appropriate your interior, and that each person does not have objects without soul that we see everywhere in everyone “.
In the coming months, the company also wants to offer wooden trays from old boards of barns, old houses or train funds.
Eco-Friendly Decoration: A Timeless Design
Who says recovery says also consider the aspect aesthetic. Tiptoe is above all a brand of design: “Design is the heart of our business,” says Célia Bulbs. Eco-responsible furniture with timeless lines and multiple colors like those created by this company can look like vintage as well as contemporary decoration. The natural materials used for the manufacture of these pieces of furniture are not an obstacle for the design, on the contrary. The company’s ambition is to offer more durable objects, better products, and better design. Reworking old objects to make them stylized furniture and up-to-date, that’s also the eco-friendly decoration.
The personalization of objects: a sustainable approach
Personalization can also, in addition to recovery, be a good way to activate an eco-friendly approach. The Camif brand uses this concept to encourage people to keep their furniture and decoration longer. “It is possible to offer a second life to objects that one has at home, vintage furniture or to invest in customization, customization. This allows us to give a soul to an object to say that it is important to us, says Magali Borlet with certainty, and it may be less easy to dispose of than a product that has been bought more anonymously and comes from far away. “
Camif offers a collection of linens sold with paint boxes. Perfect to customize his decor! Some tutorials are also available on the website: “There is a section called ‘Great stories’; this is a blog where customers share ideas for eating better and adopt eco-friendly decor.”
According to the studies on indoor pollution, we would spend nearly 90% of our time in an enclosed space (house, office, …), while the air is much more polluted than outside; paints, cleaning products, deodorants contribute to indoor air pollution. It is therefore important to take steps to feel better, indoors. For this, promote natural materials while being wary of major brands that offer this type of product. Indeed, these act to give themselves ‘good conscience’ and to be in the trend, but very few really constrain themselves to act in an ethical way, slow design and respect for the environment.
If this responsible approach has its limits, it is still possible to follow it by personalizing its objects or by focusing on recovery. More and more green brands are appearing on the market and some even decide to extend their beliefs about events dedicated to consumption: Camif voluntarily closed its site Friday, November 29, 2019, Black Friday day; workshops and conferences were held that day to democratize eco-responsible consumption.
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