Eco-friendly furniture

Paulbeth

Hi all - does anyone know where I would find eco friendly (i.e. non toxic finishes) furniture in Ireland? Thanks.

L1011

The most eco friendly furniture is that which has already been built and transported, e.g. second hand - eliminating materials and fuel usage. The paint/varnish is all but irrelevant of you're shipping newly felled Brazilian timber to China then back here.

Paulbeth

Thanks for your reply. I know what you mean and, of course, I do care about the resources needed to make and transport the furniture, but my concern is off-gassing from the materials used to make and finish the furniture. I'd rather not expose my family and myself to polluted indoor air.

fash

Paulbeth wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I know what you mean and, of course, I do care about the resources needed to make and transport the furniture, but my concern is off-gassing from the materials used to make and finish the furniture. I'd rather not expose my family and myself to polluted indoor air.

Use old furniture- all off-gassing finished and fewer resources etc
2 birds with one stone.

L1011

Paulbeth wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I know what you mean and, of course, I do care about the resources needed to make and transport the furniture, but my concern is off-gassing from the materials used to make and finish the furniture. I'd rather not expose my family and myself to polluted indoor air.

That's personal environment rather than "eco friendly" you want then. Older furniture will have long since ceased off-gassing anyway. The overall environmental damage of the new furniture is a lot higher than that caused by any coatings.

The only issue you're likely to have is the vile smell of memory foam and synthetic rubber (blackout curtain backing) when new; pretty much any wood treatments/coatings are extremely low volatility these days anyway.

Paulbeth

Right. Thanks again. Yes, selfishly I suppose, it's my personal environment that concerns me. From the little bit of research I've done, it seems that the safest place to live is outdoors, given all the concerns about floors, furniture, cabinets, etc. that contain harmful chemicals. I'll try the second hand furniture route.

One more thing, does anyone know about off-gassing from laminate floors? They've been down for the past three years or so.

fash

Have you checked for radon BTW? It is probably worse than off-gassing.

L1011

fash wrote: »

Have you checked for radon BTW? It is probably worse than off-gassing.

No probably about it; and something we seem to ignore as a risk here.

Paulbeth

fash wrote: »

Have you checked for radon BTW? It is probably worse than off-gassing.

I haven't, although I did do this some years ago in a different house - same general area - and results were ok.

hfallada

Paulbeth wrote: »

I haven't, although I did do this some years ago in a different house - same general area - and results were ok.

Thats irrelevant. If your house has no venting to let the radon out, there is a risk of radon in your house. Plus your last house may have been on a different bed rock to your new one. Dont forget a carbon monoxide alarm.

There is no point worrying about a few chemicals that may or may not cause cancer off some tables. When there maybe be cancer causing radon in your house or a dodgy boiler that might give you carbon monoxide poisoning and kill you