Ever Thought Of Buying A Piece Of Eco Or Ethical Household Furniture? By Davis Green
Ask yourself this - Do you own any eco friendly furniture, or anything that is made from an ethical source or bought from an ethical retailer? The majority of Western consumers may say they don’t, and probably most of them are not even familiar with the concepts. So what is eco friendly furniture, an ethical source or ethical retailer, and why should you consider buying such products?
Increasingly, we find ourselves beset by problems that seem beyond our control; global warming, GM Foods, animal testing, the spread of factory farming, the arms trade and human rights abuses, to list but a few. Shoppers are often left feeling helpless, the typical response being ‘there’s nothing I can do’.
But you can do something by shopping in an Ethical way. Put simply, this is buying things that are made ethically by companies that act ethically. Buying ethically means buying a brand or from a company which doesn’t exploit labor, animals, or the environment.
Eco friendly furniture is defined as furniture made by nontoxic, sustainable, renewable materials. An example is garden furniture made from recycled wood. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international network to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC brings people together to find solutions to the problems created by bad forestry practices and to reward good forest management.
Why buy ethically?
Due to a world population of 6 billion and the demand for wood that follows, forests have been clear-cut throughout the equatorial regions of the world. From Indonesia, to Africa, to the Americas, deforestation has robbed the world of nearly half of the original tropical forests. Often, this deforestation has been fueled by multinational timber companies who came in, cut everything in sight, and moved on.
We are beginning to hear the term carbon neautral more and more (What this means is that in terms of timber, for every tree they cut down, they plant another in either the same place or a different place. That way they remain neutral). Everyone needs to go shopping in one way or another. As an ethical consumer, every time you buy something, you can make a difference by choosing an ethical furniture product or by buying from an ethical business.
For example, when you buy from a company that doesn’t exploit its workers and provides them with decent working conditions, you are giving the company the funds to continue its ethical behavior. At the same time, you are no longer buying from a company that exploits its labor with poor pay and often a dangerous working environment. That company then loses business, which may encourage it to change its ways and to look after its workers.
Shopping for ethical and eco furniture has never been easier, with companies such as GuideMeGreen, that lists 100s of relevant companies.
David Oglaza is the founder of the Green and Ethical business GuideMeGreen . This growing green resource lists 100s of Organic, Fairtrade, Eco and Ethical companies. We even have Green jobs and a Green Forum!
RESOURCES:
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WRI Climate Data Now Available In Google Public Data Explorer <center><img src="http://www.wri.org/files/wri/imagecache/story-photo/story_thumbs/public_data_explorer.png" alt="" title="The Public Data Explorer presents the latest U.S. climate data in a new, interactive way." /></center>
<br /> <p>WRI is working with Google to make our data related to climate change more approachable and interactive than ever.</p>
<p>Google's <a href="http://www.google.com/publicdata/home">Public Data Explorer</a> is a new tool that makes large data sets easier to understand and explore. Users can reimagine data sets from a growing list of providers (like the U.S. Census, Eurostat, the World Bank, and, now, WRI's <a href="http://cait.wri.org">Climate Analysis Indicators Tool</a> - CAIT) as interactive charts and maps that illustrate data relationships and trends over time. These new data visualizations can be embedded in other websites and easily shared via email or social networks.</p>
<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/364" target="_blank">read more</a></p> New Mapping Website Tracks Changes and Threats to Southern U.S. Forests <p> <b><a href= "http://www.seesouthernforests.org/" > SeeSouthernForests.org </a> provides a new way to learn about, and protect, the forests of the southern United States.</b> </p> <br />
<center><img src="http://www.wri.org/files/wri/southern_forests_homepage_screenshot.jpg" width="250" /> </center><br />
<p> Changes over a large area are often hard to see. This can be especially true when it comes to forests where incremental forest loss often goes unnoticed until it is too late. A new website and report by the World Resources Institute seek to change this and allow people to visualize the trends and drivers of change affecting southern forests. </p>
<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/363" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Access to Information <img src="http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/computeraid.jpg" width=150 height=100 align="left" />One of our key priorities at EarthTrends is ensuring that the public have access to the type of information that can be used to understand trends, shape ideas and inform change. <br /><br />
Information is crucial to both development and good governance. Successful decision making can only occur if both leaders and the wider public have a complete picture of the key trends and issues impacting their nation and communities. This is particularly important when it comes to sustainably managing a country's natural resources. <br /><br />
However for many, particularly in low income countries, easy access is not always a given. Limited investment, poor infrastructure and the socio-economic landscape all contribute to significant segments of the population having inadequate access to information resources.<br /><br />
<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/362" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Population and Consumption
The air is <a href="http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.html" target="blank">full of carbon dioxide</a> and other pollutants;<br />
<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/sci;314/5800/787?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=Boris+Worm+2048+90+percent&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT" target="blank">The ocean is emptying;</a>
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We have observed record setting harvests over the last few years, and yet <a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/349" target="blank">chronic hunger persists</a> and has recently been increasing;
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The planet is experiencing the <a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/356" target="blank">6th great extinction</a>;
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All of these are the result of human activity.
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This evidence illustrates that we have not responsibly managed, neither through governance nor technology, our environmental resources. In the absence of finding a sustainable relationship with our ecosystem, we might conclude that we have reached Earth's carrying capacity.<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/360" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Sanitation: Access and Health <p><img src="http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/2009_JAN.jpg" align="left" width= "200" />Human waste may be a topic that people generally do not or prefer not to think about. However, its capture and disposal (often referred to in terms of sanitation) play a vital role in human health and development. The importance of sanitation as a basic human need has made it an international development priority and a key target in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Even though since 1990 the percent of the global population with <a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/searchable_db/index.php?theme=4">access to improved sanitation</a> has increased (see Figure 1.), lack of improved sanitation still threatens human health and development particularly in developing regions of the world.</p> <p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/359" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Piracy and Governance in the Gulf of Aden <img src="http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/Boat _Pirates.jpg" border=0 align="left" width="150" /> The number of piracy attacks reported this year have already far exceeded those of last year. According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), as of September 23, 2009, 294 piratical incidents have been reported, with 97 occurring in the Gulf of Aden and 47 off of the remaining coasts of Somalia. Figure 1 shows the placements of pirate attacks within the Gulf of Aden from July to September, 2009.<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/358" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Factoids <p><img src="http://www.blogactionday.org/imgs/badges/bad-180-150.jpg" border=0 align="left" width="150" />Today is <a href="http://www.blogactionday.org/">Blog Action Day,</a> an annual event where bloggers worldwide combine their energies to highlight a specific issue. Over 10,000 sites from more than 150 countries, are participating in this years discussion on climate change.</p>
<p>As part of EarthTrends contribution we will be highlighting a few key climate change trends and statistics.</p>
<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/357" target="_blank">read more</a></p> The 6th Extinction and Protected Areas <strong>The 6th Extinction</strong>
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A mass extinction is under way. Human activity, not natural phenomenon, is the difference between this extinction and the five previous big extinctions that have occurred in Earth's history. The current extinction is driven by habitat loss, overexploitation of species, invasive species and pollution. All of these, the result of humans.
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The current extinction rate is between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural rate. <a href="http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/species_extinction_05_2007.pdf" target="blank">(International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN)</a> Current estimates put the extinction rate at roughly 30,000 species per year which is about three per hour. By the end of this century, about half of Earth's plant species could be gone. <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/298/5595/989" target="blank">(Pitman and Jorgensen, 2002)</a> For an assessment of global biodiversity, refer to the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/" target="blank">IUCN Red List</a>. <p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/356" target="_blank">read more</a></p> The Recession and Short Term Trends In Energy Demand <p><img src="http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/save-energy-bulb-lg.jpg" align="left" width= "160" hspace="8" vspace="1" /> The global economy and energy system are interdependent strands where changes in one will often cause fluctuations in the other. This relationship was highlighted by the recent economic crisis which saw cumulative effects in other spheres including world energy demand.</p>
<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/355" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Information for the Virtual Water Discussion and Water Security <p><img src="http://earthtrends.wri.org/images/Vitual_Water.JPG" align="left" width= "200" hspace="8" vspace="1" />The <a href="http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/">World Water Council</a> notes that the right to water "entitles everyone to sufficient, safe and acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic" functions. Yet, the consumption and production of water for personal and domestic purposes depend mainly on the water and water transformation processes available for industry and agriculture. Indeed, water use in industry and agriculture has become so critical within and between countries that the term virtual water has been coined to distinguish it as a unique topic of discussion.</p>
<p><a href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/354" target="_blank">read more</a></p>
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