A beautiful first day of summer! Fortunately for us, designing with florals are back…and they’re bigger and better than ever!
We’re showcasing a few of our favorite manufacturers that are eco-friend. Choosing manufactures that are members of the Sustainable Furnishings Council means that they incorporate eco-friendly practices. For example, the majority of Vanguard’s cushions include a mix of duck feathers and down, which are all natural by-products…plus more than 80% of their coils used are from scrap or recycled materials.
Photo courtesy of Galbraith & Paul
This month’s Wellnotes reveals that Fiori Interior Design is now a Green Accredited Professional in eco-friendly furnishings! This certification is granted by the Sustainable Furnishings Council, “a coalition of manufacturers, retailers and designers dedicated to raising awareness of environmentally sustainable practices across the home furnishings industry.”
As a company, we are always striving to be eco-friendly, so this news ties in perfectly with June’s wellness design principal #5: Nature’s Sustainability.
We learned a lot during our certification journey but one statistic really stood out: Since 1994 the number of US asthma sufferers has doubled from 5 to 10% . Considering the average person spends 90% of their time indoors – where air pollution levels are typically 2 to 5 times higher than outdoors – these increases become especially alarming.
So what can be done to ensure your home is healthy?
Here are a few guidelines that we follow:
- Ensure that your home furnishings are healthy ones by choosing natural materials like organic cotton, silk, wool, linen and hemp.
- Reduce pollutants in the home by specifying low or zero-VOC paints, varnish and adhesives.
- Look to see if manufactures are using wood that is FSC certified (which means it’s been legally harvested).
- Look for products that are made closer to home. (buy locally!)
- More importantly, always look for the GREENGUARD certification.
