On couches

On couches

05 Jun 2006

Got questions about the environment? Ask Umbra.

Dear Umbra,

I am in the market to buy a new couch (our current couch is older than me -- it's 27!). Is it better to buy a "green" couch, a couch from a mainstream vendor, or a used couch? If used is the way to go, do you have any suggestions for finding one that isn't disgusting?

Nora Burton
Seattle, Wash.

Ask Umbra continues below

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Dearest Nora,

Long have I waited for this moment, when I will at last learn the difference between a sofa and a couch. My dictionary says a sofa is a long upholstered seat usually with a back and arms -- ooh, from the Arabic "suffah" -- while, let's see, the first definition for couch is ... "a sofa." Anticlimaxerific.

Put a little spring in your seat.

Photo: iStockphoto.

I had a fabulous experience hiring someone to reupholster my old, disgusting, greasy-although-cute sofa, and now I believe My Way Is the Best Ever. However, leaving no path unexplored, let's peek at sustainably made couches.

Sofas laying claim to sustainability will eschew PBDEs -- polybrominated diphenyl ethers -- which are the main environmental problem in furniture. Used as fire retardants in polyurethane foam and in fabric, among other things, PBDEs -- aka "the next PCBs" -- disperse in the environment, bioaccumulate in our fatty tissues, and probably make our children dumb. Sure, I could relate that in a sophisticated way, but I get paid to boil things down for you, and the essence of PBDE news is: support efforts to limit and ban them. Read more than you ever wanted to know in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Other furniture-related concerns will be the source of the wood frame, the glues used to create laminate, the cushion material, and the upholstery. I found long lists of purportedly eco items at Viridian Design and Treehugger. From thence, two randomly picked furniture sites: EcoSofa has some decent pieces made of organic fabrics, latex cushions, and Forest Stewardship Council wood, full couch starting at $5,000. Cheaper, and perhaps local to you, is the Greener Lifestyles line, making equal eco-claims save the organic fabric, and with sofas for less than $2,000. (Then there's the site that asks you to email for the price, only they say "to inquire about this work." Right. How many hours would I have to work to own this work?)

Before laying down the cash for new, remember our handy guidelines for eco-life: Reduce, reuse, recycle. Which takes us back to my own sofa, poster couch for the eco-dwelling.

A new couch in my (low) budget range would probably have been one with webbing instead of springs, with cheap materials, and with uncomfortable padding. That's not the biggest environmental problem, you say -- but durability is important for the eco-shopper. These things are poorly made. Just go ask at your local reupholsterer shop. They will give you an earful about the excellent craftsmanship in older sofas, the importance of springs, maybe even the "good bones" of your old sofa, and the shoddy construction of newer sofas -- the affordable ones, anyway.

I had a couch with good springs and a nice style. Eleven yards of non-retardant fabric was $200, two new cushions were also around $200 (though cushions are where Do As I Say might be better than Do As I Did -- I didn't look too far into sourcing at the cushion shop), the upholstery work was $700. I reduced and I reused, but I did not recycle the repulsive, disintegrated old cushions. No trees were felled, no springs were forged, local craftspeople made a dime (7,000 dimes, in fact), and I got that rare, rare feeling of doing something right without feeling confused.

In short, yard sales, rummage sales, estate sales, and flea markets will eventually yield a sofa with good bones. Choose your dream fabric, and voila! Sofa eco-facelift!

Miraculously,
Umbra

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Please send Umbra any nagging question pertaining to the environment -- but first check out her FAQs!

The claims made in this column may not reflect the views of this magazine. Neither the magazine nor the author guarantees that any advice contained in this column is wise or safe. Please use this column at your own risk.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

Comments: (6 comments)

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Clean Used Couches

A few other places to try for couches that may prove cleaner than yard sales, which I'm surprised weren't mentioned:

Goodwill (where I got my super fun couch in great shape for $35!)
Salvation Army (same as Goodwill shops)
Freecycle.com (see if there's one setup for your city... just a central messageboard for getting or giving away stuff for free with other people in your area)

by carlalamc at 3:18 PM on 05 Jun 2006

Sofa or Couch

How about davenport?

Or chesterfield? (my favorite)

by HU at 4:42 PM on 05 Jun 2006

Just one potential problem

Second-hand furniture has many obvious advantages. But it carries a potential problem.
I don't know whether this is a concern yet in your part of the country (or whether places like FreeCycle do anything special with the goods they receive before passing them on), but I'd be worried about bedbugs. It's a real problem and, from what I understand, pretty terrible.

by harpette at 4:42 AM on 06 Jun 2006
[ Parent ]

And did I mention quality?

Buy old, used furniture! The quality can't be beat, unless you can afford five grand for a sofa. We bought "affordable" furniture and I paid for it again when I had to go to the chiropracter. Older furniture (with springs) is just made better.

by elisedavies21 at 8:32 AM on 06 Jun 2006

How about a Slipcover

There is another way to reuse older furniture whether it is bought from some one else, or from your own home. All you have to do is slipcover the furniture.

I am not writing about those throw on things that you can purchase at the store or from the Surefit company, I am writing about a custom fitted slipcover. This is custom made for each piece of furniture. The main body is slipcovered and the cushion is slipcovered.

This is a great way to update, change the color, protect the furniture, or cover up an old worn piece of furniture.

If you know how to sew, you can make your own. Cost then would be for fabric only

If you don't know how to sew, then a hired slipcover pro would be the best way to have it done... Now there is the cost of labor and the cost of fabric.

If one is concerned about older furniture and possible dust mites, it can be encased with an undergarment and then the new slipcover can go on top of that.

Just thought folks needed to know about this other option. www.slipcovernetwork.com

Karen at RecyclewithKBKatHome.com

by recyclewithkbk at 8:28 PM on 11 Jun 2006

eco sofas

I think the idea to reuse older sofas and other upholstered furniture is great; however, I don't understand why you stop at telling people to avoid PBDE's (found in fire retardants) and not ask them to avoid the other 8,000 chemicals normally used in producing upholstery fabric, furniture (in glues, etc.) and in the foam that is often used in pillow filling. These chemicals include formaldehye (often!) as well as many that have been proven to be harmful to human health (from causing rashes and headaches to cancer). If you do reuse an older sofa, please search out toxin free fabrics and fill.

by lavd at 8:34 AM on 03 Jul 2006

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