Easy Going Green

LACEY Enforcement Begins

Enforcement of the LACEY Act for wood furniture begins July 1, 2009.

Amendments passed last year make it illegal to import items that contain illegally logged wood. The definition of illegally logged is that which is either sold below market price or cut in violation of treaties, laws and regulations.The Act requires origin of wood species declarations from importers that contains the scientific name of the plant imported, its country of origin and a description of its value and quantity in products. The declaration of wood origin and value requires a signature at the bottom under penalty of perjury although many other import documents do not.

Alternative Oil Foam - Palm Green?

Sam's Club just brought in a Task Chair from Qianglong Seating claiming on the packaging that they care about the environment and have used a Palm Oil content cushion. As always on Easy Going Green, I want to make sure to keep you informed of the environmental controversies surrounding new materials and also strive fror transparency in claims to consumers. There are people researching these materials and the claims surrounding them in every industry.

No place on the packaging does it say what percentage of Palm Oil is used in the cushion, and at the time of this posting, no floor sample was available to review the law label content. I will post a comment when I find out. Typically with soy and other alternative oil cushion the percentage is always under 50%. Research has shown that those consumers actively looking for Green products are very skeptical of vague Green claims and expect that full information will exist somewhere on a hangtag or the box. Absence of the disclosure makes them less likely to buy versus a non-Green product so they can avoid feeling duped. So, if you have a real claim, spell it out, get some credit!

But onto the controversy...with widespread deforestation going on in many countries converting to "food for fuel crops" and palm oil production at about 28 million tons per year, the second largest crop after soybeans, environmentalists are concerned about insuring sustainable production. Palm oil has the highest yield per hectare than any oil or oil seed crop and can only be cultivated in tropical areas of Asia, Africa and South America. Since the 1990s, palm oil cultivation had increased by about 43%, most in Malaysia and Indonesia now the world's largest producers of palm oil. New plantations have resulted in the conversion of large areas of forests with high conservation value threatening the rich biodiversity. There is also a use of fire for preparation of land for oil palm planting  contributing to the problem of forest fires and leaving large areas of land without any forestation to help with carbon capture. The expansion of oil palm plantations have also given rise to social conflicts as well and threaten the economic growth of the people in those regions.

There are groups such as the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) working on programs similar to FSC that would certify the production and insure that products produced are truely Palm Green with full traceability and transparency. I am not a big proponent of these certification programs, but the protocol they use should be a part of any retailer's QC and audit program. There is no excuse in this day and age for vendors to be ignorant of any part or source in their supply chain. Same goes for the retailers - in this economy no one can afford a Kathie Lee scandal.

CARB Small Scale Test Approved

CA Air Resource Board approved an alternate small scale test method [Dynamic Microchamber DMC]
for conducting quality control testing of formaldehyde emissions from manufacturers of composite wood products despite complaints from certain furniture manufacturers (you know who you are) who have done nothing but whine about how the small scale could not possibly match the large and that they would have to test using the large (and expend all that money) to avoid liability.

A copy of the approval letter can be found at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/compwood/outreach/dmc.pdf.

Green Renewal

Easy Going Green is back, and I am ready to renew my commitment this Blog. When I created it, I promised that it would be different than traditional publications like Furniture Today, Home World, etc. I would be commenting on, researching and reviewing sustainable furniture business practices and things like CARB, but without being skewed by an advertising base.

When I tell people this mission, they always are so intrigued, but the first question they ask is - "How do you make money at it?" The answer is flat out, "I don't." I can't. You don't see advertisers on my site for a reason - I hate that and I do not want them influencing what I write about or how I write about them. I don't make you pay to subscribe because it limits my subscription base in what is small industry already and one that I believe desperately needs to gets its collective act together to make more (I did say more, not less) well-designed products, better and more economically sound companies, better lives for its employees and customers, and yes, a more sustainable global environment as a result.

Back to the answer to the question of money...luckily the majority of the time, I am actively developing products in partnership with my talented husband. The rest of the time, I freelance write articles for other Green publications (a select few of my past articles can be seen here,) or I design furniture (remember in my Bio, I told you I worked for Herman Miller,) sell off patents for exciting new concepts like our low-cost TV Lift or a no tools assembly mechanism, or I consult for companies on all things sustainable including materials

So does that make me a better writer than the staff of Furniture Today - they have much more experience than I do as a journalist - but they seem to lack the fundamental understanding of what a Blog is about through no fault of their own. A good Blog is about timing, pointing you to information sources (like Furniture Today articles), critical review of issues, in-depth research into one subject area, answering questions, asking questions and reviewing companies or products. Blogs are also targeted to a very specific audience - mine is stated right at the top of each page.

Eco-Effective Info for Retail Buyers of Furniture & Seating

Lastly, and this is my viewpoint only and not characteristic of most Blogs out there, my Blog will never be "snarky" or rude but straightforward and never project an activist view, but always a pragmatist view that going green should be easy and logical. If you can't see it, calculate its value or are willing to read or listen, then you are not ready for what I have to say. If you are, then I can really help you design great products, influence people and save money - oh, and by the way  - we just might save the planet too.

CARB Sell-Through Extended

The California Air Resource Board has announced a four-month delay in the enforcement of the Phase 1
sell-through dates for distributors and retailers of composite wood product panels manufactured before January 1, 2009.  The Advisory is available at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/compwood/outreach/sell_thru_advisory.pdf

ULEF Resin Application Available Thru CARB

Application for the use of no added formaldehyde (NAF) base resins or ultra low emitting formaldehyde (ULEF) resins is now available through CARB or direct download here.

PVC, Leather, Composite Wood - What's Safe?

Innovative material or toxic banned liability? Where did we go wrong in the development process? Were our intentions all wrong or just our process? I got to thinking recently about whether or not anything is safe or at least questionable. I know it is what makes going green so frustrating for all of you because that is when you send me the e-mails. Evidently my post on Bonded Leather touched more nerves than I thought it would...but let's take a look at some materials historically and rethink our development process and maybe this time history won't keep repeating itself.