When it comes to finding eco-friendly wood for your furniture, there are lots of things to consider. How you’ll use it, who will use it, and where you use it matters more than you may think. Extra durable wood that is low maintenance or you’re happy to take care of carefully, is an important consideration.
Bamboo – This is not technically considered wood right now, but if you go to a showroom and find out what they can do with bamboo now, you’ll be so impressed. Bamboo can look like almost any type of wood, but it takes less time to grow, so replanting and deforestation isn’t a concern.
Hemp Wood – Things are getting exciting with hemp wood. Hemp can make amazing products that look just like any type of wood you want it to look like. It can be used for furniture and even an entire house build.
Traditional Wood – All wood is eco-friendly if they use the right growing, harvesting, and processing practices. You’ll need to find out the source of the wood before using it to determine if the logging and growing company uses those eco-friendly practices that you care about.
Reclaimed Wood – This type of wood has already been used to make things such as homes, barns, buildings, pallets and so forth. Anything built of wood can be torn down and the wood reused for the most part. Do question how it’s processed, how the paint is removed, and so forth, so that you know that process is also eco-friendly.
Wheat Board – This is also called Ecoboard and is a great replacement for MDF fiber boards. It’s formaldehyde free and uses compressed straw as the raw material to build the boards. You can use this for furniture, and it will look like wood. It’s also moisture resistant, fire resistant, and deformation resistant, without added chemicals.
Salvaged Wood – This type of wood hasn’t been used before, but has been cut down due to overgrowth. It can also be found in the rivers and other places that have been used for transportation in logging. You can find logs in rivers that are hundreds of years old and still in good condition.
Remember that in general, any type of wood is eco-friendly but it depends on how it’s grown, harvested, processed, and transported. When sourcing materials, ask yourself how they created it and how it can be disposed of before you buy it.
If they don’t use sustainable practices, it can ruin the eco-friendliness of the wood. They need to be replanting more than they’re cutting down and processing it using fair labor practices, fair environmental practices, and more. You can ask anyone selling it to you about this process.
