Page 133 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2023

Another aspect of sustainability is the health not only
of people, but the environment. In addition watching out for exploited labor in supply chains, consumers should be looking for non-toxic and eco-friendly pieces to appoint their homes. Not only can upholstery and cushions be coated with flame-retardant chemicals, but engineered woods are known to release significantly higher levels of formaldehyde than solid wood.
Our best advice? Read the labels and look for sustainable certifications, such as FSC Certified (Forest Stewardship Council – ensures there’s been an ethical and sustainable sourcing of the wood), B Corp (Benefit Corporation – an accreditation which proves a brand has made sustainable efforts to benefit the planet and people), GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard – the standard accreditation of organic cotton), and Low VOCS (VOCs refer to Volatile Organic Compounds, which are usually found in newly-bought furniture like sofas, as well as paints and wood stains).
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This brings us to our next point: conservation. There are some resources that are more sustainable than others. While some options, such as reclaimed wood, are more obviously sustainable, some materials are less apparently so. For instance, bamboo
grows back within only three to five years and is 100 percent biodegradable. Cork trees are not cut down to obtain cork, rather the bark is stripped to harvest the cork, allowing the tree to continue to grow. Just takes only four to six months to grow and absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen even faster than trees do!