Earth Friendly Fabrics

Green home design evolves

Furniture manufacturer and pioneering designer Maria Yee has gotten it for 22 years. Her handcrafted furniture is made with bamboo or responsibly harvested hardwoods, finished in tung tree oil or water-based products. Her eponymous company, which is based in Scotts Valley, Calif., sells to retailers including Crate and Barrel, Gump's, and Room and Board. As others have jumped on the bandwagon, she's noticed a profound change in consumer attitudes.

But how do we know what is green? You practically need a GPS to navigate the labels, and a major problem is green-washing. There are some estimates that as many as 99 percent of environmental claims can't be backed up. That's why there's third-party accreditation. There's LEED (leed.net), an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a building standard that addresses sustainable sites, developing water savings, energy-efficiency, alternate energies such as solar power, and maintaining indoor environmental quality.

A BiOH polyol (bioh.com) label identifies a soy-based ingredient used in foam for bedding, upholstery and carpet backing. With wood products, look for an FSC designation; that's the Forest Stewardship Council (fsc.org), which assesses forest management, responsible harvesting and managed rainforest. The Rainforest Alliance (rainforest-alliance.org) is one of the founders of the FSC, and with the launch of Smart Wood in 1989; it developed the world's first global forestry certification program, assuring that forests are not threatened or trees genetically modified by recipients.

There's also the Sustainable Furnishings Council (sustainablefurnishings.org), a nonprofit coalition of home furnishings industry and environmental leaders. Most recently, Eco3Home (Eco3Home.com), a new program of the American Home Furnishings Alliance, a manufacturers' trade group, to standardize the format for reporting eco-friendly detail – safety, health and environment – on furniture.

Rosemary Merrill, a Minneapolis designer, incorporates eco-friendly products into her aesthetic process. Her Casa Verde ("green home") firm, which specializes in custom kitchens and baths, was founded on the principal that "good design is green design," not a fad. But even if that means a little more expensive, she says: "People would rather cut back and have better things than have the latest in design. Trendy is not a priority. Sustainable can be stylish and long lasting," says Merrill.

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@nana, any “bamboo” fiber is really rayon, which is considered a semi-synthetic fiber because of all the processing that has to be done to it. There is lots of pollution involved in the process. It’s really not at the top of the list of eco-friendliness, though it might be less polluting than synthetics and conventional cotton. I don’t know if you need to worry extra about bamboo fabric from China — but it’s a good idea to pre-wash everything if you are worried at all.

I have worked for an office furniture company for many years and as I’m sure you are aware we have very rigid restrictions on what fabric we can and can’t use in an office environment, they must be flame resistant and hard wearing. Being in the manufacturing of office screens and chairs ( http://www.ecomfg.com/ ) the use of fabrics and the processes they go through is of great interest to me! I’ve enjoyed your article and found the styles used pleasing and soft on the eye!

I work for a Silk Tie company in the UK, http://www.coolsilks.co.uk , and one of my pleasanter tasks is to go on buying trips in China, I have fallen in love with silk it is a totally amazing fabric. The silk worms feed on Mulberry leaves then turn into cocoons, at the right time the cocoons are put into boiling water to get the silk. The worms are eaten and the silk makes cloth. A truly organic and non wasteful process. Did you know that silk is so strong and tough that is was used successfully in the manufacture of the first bullet proof vests!

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