Eco-friendly furniture is a design trend for a sustainable meaningful life, existence, and gratitude to nature and creation by protecting the natural environment, using harmony and balance, favouring natural materials, can be recycled and reused, orient to sustainable and heritage thinking, bring beauty and pure, invisible energy to life. Those who choose a minimalist lifestyle and are grateful to nature, see it not only as a question of ethics and responsibility, but also highly aesthetic because of the sophistication that nature bestows. Its aesthetic is characterised by minimalist details, emulating the real elements of nature, bringing the spirit back to equilibrium and imparting peace, prosperity and ultimate happiness. Whether you're looking for a cosy 100% recyclable lounge chair or a reclaimed wood table with lots of character, there's a sustainable furniture brand for you. Here are some of our favourite eco-friendly furniture companies that are conscious of their environmental footprint, focused on the ethics of their supply chain, and create beautiful pieces. Several national and international institutes study and promote research on environmental protection, dictating useful guidelines for companies which seek the esteem of those who are attentive to eco-sustainability.
Among the most important certifications, in the national and international panorama, in the field of eco-sustainability, for example:
- The FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) Certification
- The Greenguard Certification
- The OK Biobased Certification
- The CARB Certification
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
- Cradle to Cradle (C2C)
- SCS Indoor Advantage Indoor Air Quality
- Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
- Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS)
- LEED Certification
Image: Esty , Floyd
List of 20 Ethical & Eco-sustainable Furniture Brands:
- Giorgetti
- Lago
- Porada
- Kartell
- Ecobalanza
- Avocado
- Emeco
- EcoFurnix
- Floyd
- Medley
- Ikea
- Etsy
- Outer
- Savvy Rest
- Masaya & Co
- Sabai
- Vivaterra
- Maiden Home
- West ELM
- Goodee
1. Giorgetti
Giorgetti is today one of the excellences of made in Italy design that has made sustainability a fundamental value, through a consistent Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) plan. The company statement reports that the wood used for the manufacturing of its products comes from controlled cultivation forests, the trees to be felled are selected with strict criteria and immediately replaced with new trees. Environmental sustainability standards are also taken into consideration in the choice of paints, all with a low content of chemical solvents, as well as in the packaging of the goods, where polystyrene has given way to recyclable cardboard. For the production process, in the logic of circular economy, the company transforms the waste of wood processing into energy that feeds the internal heating system of its plants.
2. Lago
The production process of this company shows clear influences coming from the production and commercial philosophy of bio-building. The Lago factory is the symbol of the company's commitment to the respect for the environment and the constant effort to protect it. An example is the Lean Thinking principle, adopted by Lago, which suggests an efficient, sustainable production method that requires non-impacting materials, with high quality standards, in the production phase, and that reduces waste and the quantity of raw material used. The use of solvent-free, water-based paints that avoid the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) allows for better air quality in production environments and maintains a low level of pollution (internal and external). The company has obtained the ISO 14001 certification, demonstrating its desire to plan its business according to the principles of environmental sustainability and circular economy.
3. Porada
Porada works with solid wood, transforming it with craftsmanship into iconic objects for the home. The company philosophy proposes furniture accessories made with precious materials and designed to last over time, as well as to survive the succession of industry trends. The company has long demonstrated its interest in respecting sustainable production standards. The wood being processed comes from certified forest areas of the French Burgundy, the packaging material of the finished products is 100% recyclable cardboard, the use of plastic material in production is minimal. Within the manufacturing plant, Porada has built a photovoltaic system that provides 100% of the energy needed, with a consequent significant reduction in CO2 emissions. The energy for the internal heating system is provided entirely by the combustion of processing waste, making the company entirely self-powered.
4. Kartell
“Kartell Loves the Planet” is the industrial manifesto with which Kartell, a leading Italian company, intends to underline its commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility. The passion for excellence that has guided Kartell's development since its origins has led the brand to focus on environmental respect and attention to eco-sustainability practices. The Kartell product is a timeless product, born with respect for ecology, destined to occupy museum galleries and collectors' heritage, at the end of its life cycle. The raw material used by Kartell is often entirely recyclable and finds new life thanks to industrial regeneration processes. Research and technological development make it possible to identify increasingly (and more easily) regenerable and non-impacting materials. Based on this production culture, Kartell develops its products and packaging. The entire production process chain sees the company committed to respecting sustainability protocols. .
5. Ecobalanza
Ecobalanza is a Seattle company making boutique and ethical upholstered furniture on-site using traditional techniques. The handmade furniture features natural and recycled materials that are non-toxic, with no polyfoams or composite wood with formaldehyde. Ecobalanza uses wool as a flame barrier, rather than chemicals. The company also sources eco-friendly fabrics (such as GOTS certified organic cotton) from its women-owned textile partner, Two Sisters Ecotextiles, located close by in Seattle. Couches feature hardwood frames that are sturdy and sustainable, made with FSC certified Alder and Western Maple. Ecobalanza uses sustainably harvested organic GOLS Dunlop latex to pad cushions. Inner wraps are made with certified organic merino wool for natural flame resistance. Traditional practices such as hand-tying steel coils with jute fibre cord help to make the furniture strong, comfortable, and sustainable. Ecobalanza only uses zero VOC wood stains and finishes. If you want a more stain-resistant couch, you can choose recycled polyester upholstery and Green Shield stain resistant treatment or leather (vegetable-tanned and free of heavy metals, as certified by the German natural textile association IVN, Germany’s fourth-largest farming Biokreis association, and ECARF Institute of the European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation).
6. Avocado
Avocado is a member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council and offers some of its favourite eco-friendly mattresses (for humans and pets). The company also offers a small range of beautiful bed frames, end tables, and dressers, made with reclaimed or FSC certified wood, though, meriting a mention on this list. Avocado is a certified B Corporation and one of the most ethical furniture brands around. The company uses materials free from heavy metals, formaldehyde, solvents, and other troublesome chemicals, and uses a zero-VOC sealant on its furniture. Thanks to Avocado’s smart designs, these pieces have no unnecessary handles, knobs. This means there are fewer components that can easily break, get lost, or that require glueing. Avocado is an ethical workplace, offering a variety of employee benefits. It is also a 1% for the Planet member and CarbonFree® Partner, offsetting 100% of emissions from shipping and factory operations. In addition, Avocado donates 2% of annual revenue (not just profit!) to EcoHealth Alliance, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners and others. The company also has a range of other charitable and sustainable initiatives and donates over 90% of returned items. that earns it top marks from us! While best known for their mattresses, Avocado Mattress has expanded to offering sustainable furniture. This non-toxic furniture brand is determined to maintain environmentally conscious, ethical, and sustainable business practices.
7. Emeco
Emeco was founded in 1944 as a result of a commission to make non-corrosive, fire-resistant, and torpedo-proof chairs for the US Navy. So, if you’re looking for robust furniture, this is it! Nowadays, Emeco offers this classic 1006 Navy Chair (built to last 150 years at least) alongside a range of other items, including some beautiful bar stools, desk chairs, dining chairs, and shelving, all made from recycled and reclaimed materials. These materials include recycled aluminium from post-consumer soda cans and post-industrial manufacturing scrap. This metal has a significantly lower energy footprint than virgin aluminium but is just as strong. Other materials include cork, sustainably harvested or locally reclaimed wood, recycled PET (from water bottles and such), and glass. In 2010, Emeco made a 100% recyclable and recycled chair from 100 post-consumer bottles in collaboration with Coca-Cola. Excitingly, Emeco has even invented its own materials, including Eco Concrete made with recycled glass bottles and calcium sulfoaluminate cement. This material is great for outdoor furniture as it is weather resistant, and it uses significantly less energy to process and fire compared to regular cement. Other Emeco concoctions include Reclaimed Wood Polypropylene made with plastic scraps from factory floors and sawdust from lumber yards. In addition to using sustainable materials, Emeco uses VOC-free clear coat anodizing finishes on aluminium furniture and low-VOC finishes on wood pieces. The wood pieces are made by local Amish craftsmen while metal pieces are made in-house in the company’s LEED-certified family factory in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Some of the upholstery materials leave a bit to be desired, though the company does strive to use recycled leather, polyester, and other sustainable materials. Check listings carefully if you would rather avoid synthetics, leather, or conventional cotton or wool.
8. EcoFurnix
The ECOFURNIX is a circular eco-furniture trademark. This leading brand always aims to develop and support people physically and mentally in harmony with natural living space and environmental benefits. Products bearing the name of ECOFURNIX are researched and developed (R&D) by the ALLHOME DESIGN, one of the minimalist interior design brands with a full line of home furniture products including from Shelves, Tables & Chairs, Bed & cabinets, Scenery & Decoration, Integrated compact unit & versatile Utilities, Office furniture, Child-rearing, Family health & living space amenities to Gifts and Handicrafts. The price of the product is extremely affordable and the quality is excellent. Ecofurnix's products come from recycled, well-reusable woods (e.g. pallets, old wooden houses, native plants, recycled MDF, HDF, bamboo, rattan, cork, sedge…) with clear origins. improve, preserve and maintain activities from traditional craft villages.
9. Floyd
Floyd makes beds, sofas, tables, storage, and accessories that are modular and sustainable. The company manufactures its products in the US using American grown wood that is mostly Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. This helps to cut emissions associated with transporting raw materials, and helps preserve forests in other countries. Floyd operates with the ethos that “furniture should be made for the home, not the landfill.” This is why the company uses smart designs where individual pieces can be replaced or fixed if they break. This simple, stylish, modular design also means that many of the pieces, such as the Floyd bed can be easily converted, such as from a Queen to a King size (or vice versa). By 2025, Floyd has committed to launching a Resale and Refurbishment program, ensuring 70% of material comes from either recycled or renewable sources, minimising packing materials and eliminating single use plastics, and using 100% FSC certified wood across all products. The company also measures, discloses, and is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its supply chain.
10. Medley
Medley is a California based furniture company that uses sustainably sourced, eco-friendly materials to hand build well designed, sturdy and modern sofas, sectionals, storage, accent chairs, dining, office, and bedroom furniture, pouffes, benches, and ottoman, accent tables, and more. The company favours alder hardwood frames and certified organic Dunlop latex cushions with responsibly sourced down filling, but also offers CertiPur-US® poly foam cushioning at a lower cost. The company doesn’t use harsh chemical treatments or fire retardants, and uses zero-VOC glues, natural jute webbing, and organic fabrics in furniture linings. There are several organic fabric choices available for upholstery and most of the materials are Oeko-Tex 100, GOLS, GOTS, or Greenguard Gold certified. There is some wool in some Medley furniture, mostly as an upholstery fabric and filling for chairs and sofas. This wool is Oeko-Tex 100 certified and comes from well cared for sheep. Medley uses kiln-dried alder for its furniture frames and solid maple and walnut for tables and other (as well as some bamboo). The hardwoods are grown in the US, FSC certified, and treated only with non- or low-VOC waxes and stains. For drawer bottoms and sides of storage pieces, Medley uses lightweight FSC certified, low-VOC CARB 2 compliant plywood.
11. Ikea
IKEA has committed to only using plastic based on renewable or recycled material by 2030. The company phased out all single-use plastic products from the global home furnishing range in January 2020. Other products will be made with biobased plastic from renewable sources like corn, sugar beet and sugar cane. You may also have noticed an increasing number of plant-based foods in the IKEA food hall and market in recent years. This is part of the company’s move to promote more sustainable lifestyle choices. For us consumers, the trick is to only buy things you actually need and to choose the most sustainable products. This largely means sticking to simple softwood items made with pine wood from sustainable sources.
12. Etsy
Etsy offers some amazing, unique, eco-friendly, sustainable furniture in its Reclaimed Furniture category. You can find real bargains here, and your purchase supports small business owners. The only downside is that these smaller scale operators don’t have splashy environmental reports and sustainability goals neatly laid out for potential buyers, so you’ll often have to ask about the exact materials and finishes used in each piece. This Etsy category has a lot of turnover, with one-off pieces popping up nearly constantly and going just as fast. Creative furniture makers offer driftwood coffee tables, oak barrel wine racks, live edge coat stands, unique headboards and doors, all manner of woven raffia chairs, benches, tables, and more. Materials most common in this category include salvaged lumber, fallen logs, driftwood, pallets, and upcycled metal such as iron piping. Given that these materials come with various potential safety concerns, you’ll want to have a clear idea of what you’re buying before finalising a deal.
13. Outer
Outer will make you fall in love with your backyard all over again. The sustainable furniture brand offers a range of durable, comfortable, and sustainable outdoor furniture pieces like sectionals, outdoor dining sets, tables, fire pits and accessories like outdoor rugs and bug shield blankets. Outer considers every element that goes into their products for durability, environmental impact, and comfort, ensuring their pieces meet exceptionally high standards. To ensure quality their teak, aluminium and wicker sofas and chairs have a 10 year warranty, while their cushions, teak & aluminium dining tables and chairs have a 5 year warranty. As Outer values circular design their entire outdoor sofa sets are recyclable at the end of their use. The frame is made of aluminium, foams can be easily shredded and repurposed as carpet padding and every plastic used falls into international recycling codes 2, 4, and 5. To further their sustainability efforts Outer is certified Carbon Neutral and part of 1% for the planet.
14. Savvy Rest
Virginia-based brand Savvy Rest offers sleek, modern sofas, loveseats, and armchairs made of organic fabrics, natural latex, sustainably-sourced maple hardwood, and zero-VOC stains. Savvy rest allows you to customise almost every aspect of each piece including fabric (organic cotton, organic hemp, or a blend of the two), fabric colour, seat cushion firmness and arm height to suit your individual style. The furniture pieces are designed with people and the planet in mind and don’t contain chemical flame retardants, formaldehyde glue, metal coils, particle board, plywood or veneer. Savvy Rest is both an employee-owned company and a certified B Corp which means it has higher social and environmental standards than the average business.
15. Masaya & Co
This sustainable furniture store creates handcrafted, handwoven furniture in Nicaragua using hardwood grown on their reforestation project, which manages over 1100 acres of trees. This sustainable furniture brand’s range includes armchairs, barstools, beds, bed frames, benches, bookshelves, credenzas, desks, dining chairs, dressers, lounge chairs, love seats, nightstands, ottomans, rocking chairs, side tables, sofas and stools. Each time you buy a product from Masaya & Co, they plant trees. So far, the company has planted more than 900,000 trees and currently employs 150 artisans in the region.
16. Sabai
When it comes to style, comfort and sustainability, Sabai truly sets itself apart in the industry. Ethically made in North Carolina, Sabai sources 90% of materials locally including FSC-certified wood, and Certipur-US certified foam. Sabai believes in closed-loop solutions and that’s why their furniture is made from upcycled water bottles. The brand makes eco-friendly sofas, sectionals, loveseats and ottomans that are affordable, easy to assemble and are both modular and customizable. You get to choose the cushions, fabric and legs that will be used and the final product will be shipped to you in as little as six weeks. Sabai aims to reduce the 12 million tons of furniture waste Americans create every year. Through their Repair Don’t Replace program, they offer repairs and replacement components so that their pieces can keep being used for longer and stay out of landfill. They also have a Closed Loop Program that buys back old Sabai furniture, refurbishes and sells the pieces and gives the owner 20% of the revenue.Sabai makes going green simple. With a curated selection of environmentally friendly furniture for the living room, they help remove the decision overload that comes with a lot of brands. This comes with the added benefit that all their items come with replaceable parts. Keeping your furniture pieces feeling fresh and new for as long as you want.
17. VivaTerra
VivaTerra is an online shop dedicated to bringing an eco-friendly lifestyle to every part of your home decor, furniture, and more. While Viva Terra carries a wide range of furniture from suppliers with different values there are plenty of non-toxic pieces, furniture made with recyclable materials, and more.
18. Maiden Home
Founded in 2015 by Nihdi Kapur, Maiden Home offers handmade furniture. They span the east coast with Designers in New York and the craftsmen in South Carolina. On their website you can purchase pieces for both the dining room and living room. This includes sofas, sectionals, stools and chairs. Their website also shows you their entire production process broken down to the fabrics. This is the type of radical transparency us green folks like to see. Sustainability: Made in USA; made-to-order, responsibly sourced, CertiPUR-US® & GREENGUARD Gold certified pieces
19.West ELM
“Good for people, good for the planet” is a mantra that West Elm runs on. Despite their substantial collection of furniture, 95% of their pieces are handcrafted in house in their Brooklyn studios. Their sourcing of sustainable cotton saved 2.3 billion litres of water in 2019. Sustainability: FSC certified materials, made in USA, Fair Trade, eco-friendly materials, gives back, Greenguard gold standard.
20. Goodee
Started in 2017 by brothers Bryon and Dexter Peart; they looked to create a marketplace that empowered niche artisans and environmental brands alike. It has a wide array of products from kids to outdoor. Its furniture selection offers products from brands such as Emeco and Ecobirdy among others. In 2020 it published its first impact report, outlining Goodee’s environmental and social goals. One highlight is that 97% of their products are sustainably and ethically sourced. Sustainability: Certified b corp, showcases indigenous crafts, Carbon neutral shipping, impact report.
(This article is compiled from diverse sources and disclaimer of liability)
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