Saving America Through Sustainable Shopping

Thom Filicia Home Collection at Vanguard Furniture. Photo courtesy of Vanguard Furniture.

America is founded on the idea that people are capable of making responsible choices for the betterment of themselves, their communities, and the world-at-large. One of the best ways to promote social and economic improvements is through the power of shopping.

What we buy shows not only our sense of personal style, but also social our consciousness. A frontrunner in this movement, the Sustainable Furnishings Council has just marked the third anniversary of its founding with the launch of a new consumer education campaign to promote awareness about sustainable designs in the home furnishings industry.

The campaign kicked off with a roundtable featuring three of the most notable icons in the interior design industry, discussing some of their most recent collections.

Moderated by Jeff Hiller, president of the SFC, the panel featured:

• Vladimir Kagan- founder and owner of the Vladimir Kagan Design Group, a furnishing design company.
• Thom Filicia- founder and owner of the interior design company Thom Filicia inc. and current host of Dress My Nest, but probably most widely recognized from his role on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
• Alexander Julian- founder and owner of the clothing and home furnishing design company Alexander Julian Co., and five-time winner of the Coty American Fashion Critics’ Awards.

The panel opened by discussing the importance of buying locally manufactured sustainable furnishings, and the experts later went on to talk about some of their latest design collections for the following eco-friendly retailers: American Leather, Vanguard, and Vaughan-Bassett. All three retailers manufacture the vast bulk of their items within the United States.

Mr. Hiller opened the discussion saying, “Sustainability is about balance. It’s about using resources in a way that ensures that there’s enough for the future,” later adding that, “One of the key points in all the wood discussions is if your wood is sourced in North America or Canada, you’re typically in great shape. Price has been steadily decreasing (in the United States).

“More demand for that type of product will bring those prices down (further). There is a misperception that these products necessarily have to cost more. Most options, and you can quote me on this one, most options cost nothing more, not somewhat more, nothing more.”

Hitting on the theme of more options, Mr. Kagan added that, “Whether or not you use sustainable products, you’re still trying to accomplish the same end product, so it’s really an issue of substitution. It’s really more about pushing the consciousness of it, the awareness, and the potential salability of going green with the end product. I don’t think the design has changed just because you’re going to make a green design.”

Matinee convertible sofa. Photo courtesy of American Leather.

Among Mr. Kagan’s most recent furnishing designs are for American Leather, a founding member of the SFC. Of the company, he said, “I know that at American Leather, every scrap of unused foam rubber goes back into some recycled form whether it’s lining or reconstituted foam, and the same thing with wood chips. They use the wood for energy. The recycling becomes a practical, possible thing.”

Mr. Kagan’s designs collections for American Leather are:

• Matinee- chairs and sofas, where the backs lift off to create instant daybeds and ottomans.
• Velero- elegant and modern loveseats, chairs, sectionals, and ottomans, showing off crisp lines, a tight seat and back, with shallow button-tufting accents.
• Zoe- classic kidney-shaped sofas.

Mr. Filicia discussed Vanguard’s sustainability practices, saying, “Vanguard as a company has even created this very responsible recycling program as far as materials, certified wood, recycled metals, and water based/low VOC (volatile organic compound) finishes and paints.”

The Alexander Julian’s Cottage Colours Collection at Vaughan-Bassett. Photo courtesy of Vaughan-Bassett.

“Mr. Julian added to the conversation, saying, “One of the reasons I am pleased to participate in this forum is to making consumers aware of the alternatives. I mean it does cost more to do it right, but it’s a good fight.

“Vaughan-Bassett, for its price range, is the lowest carbon footprint furniture company in the United States. All of the woods are harvested within 200 miles of the factory.”

More precisely, according to Vaughan-Bassett’s own information, “Over 99 percent of its lumber comes from within 500 miles of its factories and 80 percent from within 200 miles, reducing the carbon footprint associated with the transport of primary raw material.” Vaughan-Bassett is also a founding member of the SFC.

Beyond educational material, the SFC has an online platform contains three separate global green search directories to find each of the following:

• Designers
• Manufactures
• Retailers

Reader comments and input are always welcomed!