Sunday, January 24, 2010

Eco-Living In-Style Designates Five Charities for Donations

Eco-Living In-Style (ecolivinginstyle.com) believes that we should give back to the world to help ensure a sustainable environment and lend a helping hand to the poorest people of the world; especially women and children. As part of our corporate philanthropic philosophy, we will donate 1% of the purchase price paid by our customers for our eco-friendly products to one of five initial charities. Our customers will have the opportunity to designate which of the charities will receive the donation from their purchase. There are so many worthy charities and it was very difficult to select only five but we hope to add more down the road and rotate charities as well.

Please join Eco-Living In-Style as we contribute to the health and well being of the world with donations to the following five charities:

American Forests (americanforests.org)
Their Mission is to grow a healthier world and their vision is to have healthy forest ecosystems for every community. American Forests is a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, a pioneer in the science and practice of urban forestry, and a primary communicator of the benefits of trees and forests American Forests is the oldest nonprofit citizens’ conservation organization. Citizens concerned about the waste and abuse of the nation’s forests founded American Forests in 1875.

American Forests is about action and that is the focus of our major campaigns. Today, the organization's primary campaigns are "Tree-Planting for Environmental Restoration" and "Reversing the National Urban Tree Deficit," which encourage people to improve rural, suburban, and urban ecosystems by planting and caring for trees that provide important environmental and economic benefits including pure water, clean air, and wildlife habitat.

Feeding America (feedingamerica.org)
Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Our mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.

Each year, the Feeding America network provides food to more than 25 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.

Our network of more than 200 food banks serves all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, securing and distributing more than 2.5 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually. Those member food banks support approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies and 70,000 programs, which provide food directly to individuals and families in need.

World Wildlife Fund (worldwildlife.org)
For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.

WWF's mission is the conservation of nature. Using the best available scientific knowledge and advancing that knowledge where we can, we work to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth and the health of ecological systems by protecting natural areas and wild populations of plants and animals, including endangered species; promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources; and promoting more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution.

We are committed to reversing the degradation of our planet's natural environment and to building a future in which human needs are met in harmony with nature. We recognize the critical relevance of human numbers, poverty and consumption patterns to meeting these goals.

World Bicycle Relief (worldbicyclerelief.org)
Simple, sustainable transportation is an essential element in disaster assistance and poverty relief. Bicycles fulfill basic needs by providing access to healthcare, education and economic development. Bicycles empower individuals, their families, and their communities. Our mission is to provide access to independence and livelihood through The Power of Bicycles.

World Bicycle Relief was founded in 2005 by SRAM Corporation and Trek Bicycle in response to the December 2004 tsunami that swept the Indian Ocean. In partnership with World Vision Sri Lanka, this project provided more than 24,000 locally manufactured bicycles to carefully selected men, women and children in greatest need. The $1.5 million Project Tsunami initiative dramatically accelerated their recovery from this brutal disaster, thanks to funding raised through the bicycle industry, foundations and individual contributors.

As part of its commitment, World Bicycle Relief retained an independent organization to measure the impact of Project Tsunami. Two years after the project was complete, the results are outstanding:
  • 88% of recipients depend on bicycles for livelihood activities
  • Bicycles can save a household up to 30% of its annual income for transportation costs
  • The bicycle program provided critical, appropriate transportation enabling households to resume important livelihood, education and service activities

World Bicycle Relief projects are designed around a comprehensive, scalable, sustainable bicycle solution. We accomplish our mission by:

  • Partnering with relief organizations to provide quality bicycles to people who need them
  • Working with bicycle suppliers to improve quality and technology, and enhance distribution with local sourcing and assembly where possible
  • Documenting the impact of bicycles in humanitarian relief situations, communicating results, improving programs and increasing awareness
  • Serving as a resource in support of bicycle-related microlending opportunities
    Most importantly, through bicycles, we improve the quality of life for men, women and children in developing nations.

Save the Children (savethechildren.org)

Our mission is to create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need. With your support, Save the Children will ensure that children in need grow up safe, educated and healthy, and better able to attain their rights.


Our vision is a world in which every child is ensured the right to survival, protection, development and participation. We provide a wide range of programs, including:

  • Training new mothers with prenatal care
  • Supplying life-saving immunizations for young children
  • Building schools in developing countries
  • Improving literacy and nutrition for children living in rural poverty in the U.S


1. Children are protected from harm through physical and psychosocial assistance
Save the Children provides child-friendly spaces and safe play kits to children in emergencies and conflict-affected areas. We teach children living in dangerous circumstances to be aware of unexploded ordnance, and train social workers and teachers to care for vulnerable children. We believe children have the right to act like children. Hurricane Ike: Responding to the Special Needs of Children; Haiti Flood Devastation: Save the Children's Emergency Response


2. Children learn and develop with age-appropriate care and education
Save the Children is committed to raising literacy rates by providing basic education and helping to equip schools and teachers in the communities we serve. We support early childhood development programs and believe that children must be well-nourished and healthy in order to learn.


3. Children are healthy and well-nourished
Each year millions of children die or suffer poor health because of preventable conditions. Save the Children provides programs that, among other things, address the health and nutrition needs of mothers and newborns, vaccinate children against common diseases and prevent childhood obesity.


4. Children thrive in food-secure and economically viable households
In the developing world approximately one-quarter of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day. Save the Children provides access to economic opportunities, including mircrofinance loans, youth employment programs and asset recovery and protection, to enable families to pay for basic needs and plan for the future.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

What Makes Furniture Green?

Good morning everyone,

I found this article by Pamela Portwood that was republished by the Tuscon Green Times. You can find more great green information at http://tucsongreentimes.com. I know I’ve already posted a blog about what makes furniture green, but this has some good information as well so please read it and enjoy it as I have.

Thank you, and remember we hope to have www.ecolivinginstyle.com operational in April or May of 2010.

‘What Makes Furniture Green?
by Pamela Portwood

Stretching out on a comfy sofa to read a book doesn't feel dangerous. It's not as though the sofa is going to throw you to ground and jump up on its ball-and-claw feet to be transformed into a saber-wielding Ninja. Even so, furniture can be hazardous to your health and the environment's health.

The tip-off is the "new furniture" smell that is strongest with upholstered furniture: sofas, loveseats and chairs.

What's behind the unpleasant aroma? The furniture is off-gassing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are carbon-based chemicals that evaporate easily into the air. They are the major component of smog. Some VOCs are known carcinogens, and they can cause other health problems, which means you don't want them in your home.

Where do you find the VOCs in furniture with standard construction? Foam seat cushions are petroleum products, so they off-gas the same way gasoline does. The glues and stains on upholstered and wood furniture off-gas VOCs, too. Plywood and pressed board used under furniture veneers can off-gas formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen, for years.

In upholstery, polyester and many other man-made fabrics are petroleum products that off-gas. From an environmental perspective, they all use oil. Cotton fabric is a natural product, but tons of pesticides and insecticides are used in cotton production.

Yikes. If this sounds like a furniture nightmare, it doesn't have to be.

Four years ago, buying a completely "green" upholstered sofa cost a fortune, and there weren't many to be had. In the last year, green furniture has spread from specialty production to larger manufacturers, and now there are more affordable options.

So what does a green sofa look like? Let's start with something I haven't talked about: the wood. There are several ways to see that your furniture is eco-friendly and doesn't contribute to deforestation.

The wood can come from forests that are sustainably managed so that trees will be preserved for the future. Check to see if the furniture has been certified. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) provides the best certification because it is given by a third-party organization.

Some manufacturers certify their woods using the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), which was created by the American Forest & Paper Association. Many environmentalists have labeled SFI certification as industry greenwashing, but the preliminary report from a study commissioned by the U.S. Green Building Council suggests that the current SFI program addresses most of the issues that the FSC do Furniture made from reclaimed wood is a good choice, but consider the wood's source. If the wood came from Asia, then its level of embodied energy (the energy invested in manufacturing and transportation) is high. Selecting used or antique furniture locally is a great option.

Buying high-quality furniture that lasts a long time is important. Soy-blend or vegetable-blend cushions reduce off-gassing as do water-based glues and stains. Green fabric options include hemp, organic cotton and recycled polyester.’

I hope you find this information as useful as I have and we at Eco-Living In Style look forward to hearing from you!

-Lester at Eco-Living In Style

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Upholstered Furniture Cushion Fill

One of the goals of this blog is to provide educational information on the various green aspects of furniture and home accessories available to consumers today. Today's topic is the make-up of the internal components (cushion materials) of upholstered furniture.

In order of least eco-friendly to most eco-friendly, the internal components are polyurethane foam, soy based foam, natural latex foam, and wool. Following are descriptions of these materials:

Polyurethane foam, as an oil based material, is the last cushion material that Eco-Living In-Style we would want to use for our furniture cushions. Unfortunately, it is currently the most commonly used material, but on many levels it is not the best. Though polyurethane is very comfortable and resilient it is also highly flammable (after all it is oil based). In order to reduce its flammability, manufacturers of polyurethane cushions have to coat it with large amounts of flame retardants to meet the US government regulations for safe household use. So, if the fact that it’s a flammable oil based material and that it must be soaked and coated with anti-inflammatory chemicals doesn’t turn you off, maybe knowing that these two aspects cause a high level of VOC output will turn you against using polyurethane cushions in your furniture.

While it is not rated for carcinogenicity, and no exposure limits for polyurethane have been established by the US government, polyurethane dust which contains toluene diisicyanate can cause irritation to the eyes and lungs and other as-of-yet unmeasured health problems. The chemicals in polyurethane that contribute to indoor air pollution are known to be possible carcinogens according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Likewise, the flame retardant known as polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) is commonly used in the US, despite bans in Europe starting in 2004. The problem with PBDE flame retardants is that they accumulate in our bodies, get passed on to our children through breast milk, and may cause liver toxicity, thyroid toxicity, and neurodevelopmental toxicity. It is very important for us as consumers to be on the look out for these materials in the products we buy and avoid them whenever possible.

A good substitute to polyurethane foam is to use soy based foam which blends the petrol-derived polyurethane foams with the more natural and healthy soy foam. Although most manufacturers only blend about 20 percent of these cushions with soy this is a step in the right direction. Soy foam also has a strong odor that manufacturers are working to minimize. In addition, since it still contains polyurethane, soy foams require the use of PBDE flame retardants. So, although it is better than polyurethane we can do better in our purchasing decisions.

Another option for cushion fill is natural latex foam. Latex is derived from rubber trees and is, without a doubt, the greenest option for cushion fill. Not only does it come from a renewable resource, but it's inherently resistant to mold, mildew and dust mites, and is available with or without PBDE fire retardants. Although 100% natural latex is the most expensive of the available components, it can be synthetically produced and blended with its natural version to reduce cost, but this is a less than perfect solution, because it off-gases 4-PC that is a mucuous membrane and eye irritant.

In my opinion the best material to use for cushion fill is wool. Wool is 100% natural, sustainable and doesn’t necessitate the usage of any harsh chemicals in its production. It does have some drawbacks like the fact that it isn’t as resilient as the solid foams and will need to be “fluffed up” to maintain its form.

As a consumer, you are now in possession of the information needed to determine which internal components you want in your upholstered furniture. As the end user, I leave it to you to decide.

As always this is an open post blog site and I welcome any further information, comments and questions.

Signing off until the next post,
Lester at Eco-Living In-Style

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Forestry Stewardship Council

The FSC or Forest Stewardship Council is an international organization promoting responsible stewardship of the world’s forests through certificates for forest management and chain of custody administered by third party auditors. The council was created to change the dialogue about and the practice of sustainable forestry. The FSC establishes principles, criteria, and standards that span economic, social, and environmental concerns. Thus, FSC is not just affect sustainable harvesting techniques to help nature, but the communities within that environment as well. We at Eco-Living In Style applaud them for these efforts.
Our aim at Eco-Living In Style is to offer furniture manufactured by companies that source their wood from FSC certified suppliers. We have rejected requests to carry many product lines because they could not provide us with a chain of custody ensuring that the lumber was sustainably harvested or how it’s harvesting affects the human culture around it. Eco-Living In Style is becoming a member of FSC and invites you to visit their site at www.fsc.org.

Sustainable Furnishings Council

Eco-Living In Style has joined the Sustainable Furnishings Council. The council was formed in 2006 to promote sustainable practices among manufacturers, retailers, and consumers alike. As many of you, by now, know of our goals as a company, Eco-Living In Style was more than eager to join the council. Their goal is to help us all make greener choices in our production methods, sales tactics, and purchasing trends. If you want to learn more about how to make greener purchases as a consumer I encourage you to visit their website and learn about what makes furniture eco-friendly. We will provide links from the SFC as they update the site with new information as well.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Recycled Glass

The production of glass by all accounts is not in the least eco-friendly. The core substance of glass (sand and silica) is by our accountancy a recyclable and sustainable material, but the methods necessary to manufacture new glass uses vast amounts of energy and some of the fuels used to produce this heat emit great quantities of carbon dioxide and other chemicals into our atmosphere. However, the benefits of glass are undeniable and we at Eco-Living In-Style consider it a necessary evil in today’s world. After all, who wants to live in a house without windows?

With that having been said, glass is recyclable and there are new less toxic ways to reheat it for reproduction into other useful products. Even if it isn't recycled the pure essence of glass can break down into sand like particles as if it were almost compostable which makes it a better alternative than plastic or aluminum. Yes there are chemicals and additives that can be put in glass to harden it or change its color, but again the core components of glass (inert materials) can erode back to some semblance of their initial state whereas plastics won't.

We at Eco-Living In-Style (www.ecolivinginstyle.com) have selected many products made of recycled glass that are produced using new, less environmentally harmful methods in their manufacture. We plan on offering Hurricane lamps, glasses, candle holders (with soy candles of course) and lighting systems to name a few products on the new site. We've enjoyed searching for them and hope you will enjoy viewing them early next year when www.ecolivinginstyle.com is officially opened.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments about recycling and reusing glass in your home.

-Eco-Living In-Style

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Sustainable Upholstered Furniture

As we will discuss in many if not all of our posts there are many components of manufacturing sustainable and eco-friendly furniture. The products that will be offered at www.ecolivinginstyle.com will all possess some or all of these components. Again our goal is to offer you high end eco-friendly furniture that adheres to the principles of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Sustainable. Our upholstered furniture lines will be no different, but what is it exactly that makes upholstered furniture green, sustainable and eco-friendly? There are many factors from the wood frame, the cushion fill and backing, to the fabric that finishes off the product that make it green.

Firstly many of our furniture suppliers use 100% FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood. This means that the wood is harvested using practices that ensure its sustainability. Typically, it is sourced from tree farms that continually grow, cut and replant their stands ensuring a continual cycle of forest growth. No clear cutting and leaving the ground barren is allowed.

Secondly the fill can be made of a variety of sustainable and green materials. Wool sheared from sheep stock that is maintained for year over year harvest is often used for cushion and frame fill. The use of Soy-based (not petroleum-based) foam has been a growing eco-friendly and sustainable trend. Lastly, some of our furniture suppliers use organic cotton as a fill product in some of their components.

Lastly, there are the materials used to cover the finished product. www.ecolivinginstyle.com will offer upholstered furniture of all types, leather included. As for the leather; which in the past was not eco-friendly at all, we will only offer leathers that have been developed using plant oils in the tanning process. This is a relatively new manufacturing process and reduces the usage of the heavy metals that were once employed, uses plant based oils, and reduces the more harmful waste products of the tanning process. Although it may not be the greenest upholstery for furniture, science is working on it. I was able to find this link: http://www.blcleathertech.com/Uploads/PDFs/NovDec07-Whatisanecoleather.pdf which gives some detail of the new greener method of tanning leather. The other types of coverings employed are all highly sustainable and consist of hemp, flax, organic cotton and burlap to name a few.

As this is an open forum blog, we invite you to make any comments or suggestions to this interested here about green furniture and how we all can lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle with the products we buy. Our ecommerce store www.ecolivinginstyle.com should be open for business early next year where you will be able to see first hand the eco-friendly furniture and green accessories you can use to make your home fabulously eco-friendly.

-Eco-Living In-Style

Monday, November 9, 2009

Welcome to Eco-Living In-Style

Thank you for visiting our blog about living green with style. In the days, weeks, months and years to come we intend to offer our own knowledge about being green and maintaining a flair for style. It was our own endeavor to find well manufactured good looking furniture and home accessories that lead us to the creating of this blog as well as our ecommerce store www.ecolivinginstyle.com that will be open for business early next year.

On this venue we will discuss exactly what makes something green. Although very few things are "totally" green we believe that there are many companies that have a strong desire to make luxurious products that adhere in as best a way they can to the three R's and the S of manufacturing green (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Sustainable). We will share our own discoveries and interests in stylish green furniture and home accessories and the new trends of being Eco-Friendly In-Style.

We have also made this blog an open blog so that you may as well share your own insight into our posts. After all, being green doesn't just pertain to your buying habits, but how you live, educating others on what might or might not be eco-friendly and bettering us all. As a reader of our blog, you may know something we have not discovered and we welcome all of your inputs as such. Thanks again and enjoy our blog!

-Eco-Living In-Style