Introduction
The furniture sector is recognized for its significant environmental impact. As awareness of climate change grows, so does the requirement for sustainable and eco friendly furniture. Selecting the right sustainable office chair can be daunting amidst numerous options. In this blog, we'll provide essential tips to guide your purchase of eco friendly desk chairs. These recommendations aim to help you make informed decisions that support eco-friendly practices while ensuring comfort and health benefits.
What is Sustainability?
Sustainability encompasses a wide range of subjects. For better understanding, sustainability is divided into three categories. They are:
- Environmental - This includes the influence on biodiversity caused by material sourcing, waste creation, water consumption, chemical use, and disposal.
- Social: Social issues include working conditions, fair compensation, and the prohibition of child labor.
- Economic - It includes the capacity to repair and the design's durability, among other things.
The sustainability of eco friendly chairs can be established by evaluating how well they adhere to the criteria.
Types of Sustainable Office Chairs
There are various types of environmentally friendly office chair options to consider:
- Eco-friendly Office Chair: Made from recycled materials or sustainably sourced wood, minimizing pollution and resource use.
- Upcycled Office Chair: Repurposed from old materials without breaking them down, maintaining or enhancing quality while reducing landfill waste.
- Organic Office Chair: Locally harvested without pesticides, using non-toxic dyes and glues to minimize environmental impact.
- Green Furniture: Uses eco friendly furniture that is locally manufactured, durable, recyclable, and minimizes toxic substances.
- Non-Toxic Office Chair: Made with natural materials like wool, latex, and solid wood without chemical treatments.
- Eco-Friendly Leather Furniture: Uses sustainable materials and avoids toxic dyes and glues in leather production.
Why is it important to use Sustainable Office Chairs?
Sustainable office chairs are becoming increasingly popular among interior designers and furniture retailers. Sustainable eco friendly chairs reflect the new principles of modern luxury:
- Quality over quantity
- Circular economy over throwaway mindset
- Ethical working conditions over profit maximization
Eco friendly furniture retailers must guarantee that they operate sustainably and socially responsibly along the whole value chain and deal thoughtfully with the environment, people, and nature.
Factors to Consider for Sustainable Office Chairs
To find truly eco friendly chairs, keep the following tips in mind.
Not only ecologically friendly but also producing ethical value
The way the eco friendly furniture is created has a significant impact on whether they can be said to be ecologically friendly. The substance must be not just natural but also organically cultivated and processed. It included avoiding endangered resources, using minimal chemicals during manufacturing, and determining how raw materials and finished products would be delivered. It is required since eco friendly furniture aims to conserve water, electricity, and CO2 emissions, potentially lowering a brand's greenhouse gas emissions and promoting climate neutrality.
Durability indicates sustainability
Durability is the main consideration when shopping for ecologically friendly furniture. This is because the products will endure longer and are less likely to wind up in landfills. That is why quality over quantity is most appropriate for environmentally friendly furniture.
Sustainable furniture does not include toxic elements
Eco friendly furniture should have less toxic chemicals, often known as volatile organic compounds (VOC). VOCs are chemical compounds that evaporate when exposed to room-temperature air. Various materials (e.g., wooden panels) and surface treatments (e.g., liquid paints) used in the furniture sector include VOCs, which emit dangerous gasses into the interior environment. After removing the packing, the odor of new furniture is typically created by VOCs evaporating in the air.
Sustainability in Design
Sustainability begins with eco friendly furniture design, focusing on quality craftsmanship and functionality. It is why well-designed office chairs last longer in our offices.
The longer an office chair stays in use, the slower its life cycle is repeated, thus reducing the environmental impact.
The use of natural materials
Eco friendly chairs should be built from natural, non-toxic materials such as wood, natural fiber, rattan, and eco-friendly textiles for cushions. Furthermore, the usage of non-endangered resources requires consideration. Using locally sourced and legal wood, such as FSC-certified wood, is better for the environment and healthier for your household.
Read Also: How to Choose the Right Office Chair for Your Office
Third-Party Verification
Several certifications ensure the sustainability of eco friendly furniture:
- Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS): Ensures products meet Indian government quality standards, mandatory for eco friendly chairs in India.
- BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association): Develops standards for office furniture, certifying durability, safety, and performance through rigorous testing.
- ISO 14001: International environmental management standards are awarded to companies that reduce environmental impact and improve performance.
- Cradle to Cradle (C2C): Ensures furniture can be disassembled, recycled, and replaced.
- Eco3Home: Certifies brands that responsibly manufacture products and source materials, providing health, safety, and environmental information.
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): Guarantees responsibly harvested wood used in furniture.
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED): Recognizes sustainable manufacturing practices across energy efficiency, water savings, sustainable materials, site sustainability, and indoor air quality.
- Low or No VOC (Volatile Organic Compound): Indicates furniture is water-based and does not release harmful organic compounds into the air.
Read Also: Maximise Workplace Wellness with Upgraded Office Seating Solutions
Craftsmanship and Quality
An eco friendly desk chair goes hand in hand with respect for quality and craftsmanship. Nilkamal Edge boasts craftsmanship as an environmentally friendly approach to design at the company's very essence.
Sustainable Disposal
Whether it's in 10 years or 100 years, there will come a time when office chairs reach the end of their life, and it is where the choice of materials is essential. After disposal, the most sustainable materials can be recycled or will naturally break down and not lead to plastic pollution.
Conclusion
Whilst it may be impossible for one eco friendly furniture design to tick every box, there are several ways to buy office chairs more sustainably. Choosing well and making things last is the best approach.
Explore Nilkamal Edge's eco-friendly furniture collection to make sustainable choices for your office today.