outdoor
Outdoor Patio Furniture That Helps Clean Up the Oceans?
Outdoor Patio Furniture That Helps Clean Up the Oceans? I know you must be thinking that's a bit of a stretch, but actually it's true. It's the lazy environmental activist's dream: casual seaside furniture that works to clean up the oceans while you relax sipping your pina colada on the beach. This is one of those rare times where you can have your cocktail and drink it too!
The latest in high end outdoor patio furniture is our line of eco-friendly "poly wood" chairs, tables, lounges and rockers all made from recycled plastic bottles that might otherwise end up as ocean pollution.
See Peggy's article in EzineArticles.com and read more about ocean plastics pollution and the role of polywood furniture in cleaning it up.
Our New Luxury Patio Furniture: It’s Eco Friendly Too
As we close in on the first phase of adding new luxury patio furniture to our online store, customers are often surprised to learn that these outdoor pieces are not made of real wood. Naturally we wanted to look for a real wood product when we decided to start carrying outdoor patio furniture.
But, while there are weather resistant species such as cedar, teak, and redwood that make fine outdoor furniture, we still worried about the longevity of the furniture, maintenance, and forest conservation.
We made the choice to go with a luxury line of recycled plastic lumber (or poly wood) furniture in place of real wood due to several environmental advantages:
- It reduces the amount of plastic going in our landfills by diverting plastic containers into recycle
- Because polywood is so durable, this furniture will last for many years, unlike much outdoor furniture that goes to the landfill in 5 years or less (in fact, we back our polywood furniture with a lifetime guarantee).
- Polywood furniture reduces the demand on tropical rain forests which are the source for teak, mahogany, eucalyptus and ipe outdoor furniture
- Polywood doesn't require maintenance other than the occasional cleaning with soap and water, resulting in a reduced demand for harsh cleaning chemicals.
But, eco-friendliness aside, we also think our luxury polywood furniture is some of the most beautiful and well-designed furniture available anywhere. Have a look and tell us what you think!
FSC Certified Outdoor Furniture Challenges
This morning at Vermont Woods Studios I’m sitting here ever-so-comfortably in a gorgeous Bolivian cherry rocking chair, sipping tea, and marveling at the recent snow and the way it dusted the evergreens on the hillside. We’ve had many snowstorms in Vermont this winter and this is the time of year when I begin to think about – but not yet long for – spring, which in Vermont is still months away.
We’d hoped to be introducing a new line of outdoor furniture this spring, but given the current instability in the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) market, we’re going to focus instead on making our indoor furniture with locally harvested wood.
The issue with outdoor furniture is that in order to have truly long lasting performance, the wood must be dense and disease, rot and mildew resistant. This usually means a tropical wood like teak or mahogany, both of which are becoming endangered due to clear-cutting of the rainforests. FSC does a great job in authenticating responsibly harvested wood, through their certification program which enables us to authenticate and have detailed knowledge of the chain of custody of our wood– from the landowners to the foresters, to the loggers, the sawmills and the furniture makers. With tropical woods it’s important to verify that each link in the chain is certified as environmentally sound and sustainable. Otherwise, it’s a very good bet that the wood has been logged illegally.
I’ll keep you posted on the FSC market. At Vermont Woods Studios we look forward to offering a line of outdoor furniture asap that meets our criteria for beauty and quality while supporting our passion to save the world’s endangered rainforests.
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