|
Eco-Glossary
Forward-thinking designers around the world are working with environmentally intelligent materials to create smart products that are beautiful in design, functional in application, and responsible in environmental impact
Abaca
Abaca is a species of banana native to the Philippines. The plant is prized for the strength of its fiber which is extracted from the leaves and stems.
Adhesives, non-toxic
Adhesives are an essential part of the furniture making process because they bond materials together. Non-toxic adhesives are often water-based and help eliminate Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from entering our homes and are safer for the environment. VOCs can be highly toxic and dangerous to human health. The World Health Organization noted in 2004, for example, that formaldehyde is a human carcinogen. Forward-thinking furniture designers, therefore, recognize the benefits of avoiding noxious, formaldehyde-based wood adhesives.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "At present, not much is known about what health effects occur from the levels of organics usually found in homes. Many organic compounds are known to cause cancer in animals; some are suspected of causing, or are known to cause, cancer in humans." Non-toxic adhesives remove the uncertainty and ensure healthier homes and a healthier environment.
Alpaca
This funny looking animal (picture a llama with an afro) produces a thick, full coat that makes incredibly warm jackets, sweaters, hats, and blankets. Alpaca fiber is stronger, lighter and more resilient than wool. It’s also finer than cashmere and equal to the warmth of Gortex.
Alpaca comes in 22 naturally occurring colors and is hypoallergenic – it has none of the lanolin or other oils found in lesser fleece – and it’s not itchy!
Aluminum, recycled
Instead of allowing it to take up space at the bottom of a landfill, savvy home furnishings designers have retooled aluminum into some of the coolest additions to the modern home.
Bamboo
Bamboo is one of the world’s most prolific and fastest-growing plants and is able to reach maturity in about four years, compared to the typical 25 to 70 years for commercial tree species in the U.S. There are over 1000 documented uses of bamboo. New innovations are taking place in home furnishings where bamboo is transformed into ply boards that match the properties of conventional wood. Bamboo is also being spun into luxurious fabrics for clothing and, coming soon, upholstery.
Bamboo is nature's most sustainable resource, is grown without pesticides or chemicals, is 100% biodegradeable, and naturally regenerative. Bamboo is actually a tropical grass, with an extensive root system that sends out an average of four to six new shoots per year, naturally replenishing itself and growing to heights of 60 feet or more. Some bamboo species grow up to 4 feet per day and can be harvested every 3 to 4 years.
Burlap Sack Theory
The theory that eco-friendly products (clothing, furniture, cars, etc.) must be unattractive and/or utilitarian. Vivavi refutes Burlap Sack Theory on a daily basis with its extensive line of chic eco-designs.
Corrugated Cardboard
Arches are supportive. Arches with proper curves are unstoppably supportive. The inventors of corrugated fiberboard brilliantly applied this principle to paper and the result is a material that is durable, functional and light. Ninety percent of corrugated cardboard is made from a mixture of recycled corrugated boxes, corrugated cuttings, recycled paper, old cartons, along with woodchips, shavings, and sawdust left over from logging and sawmilling operations.
Cotton, organic
Traditional Cotton facts;
* Cotton is the second most pesticide-laden crop in the world.
* Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton in the U.S. (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite and trifluralin) are known cancer causing chemicals.
*It takes approximately 1/3 pound of chemicals to grow enough cotton to make just one t-shirt.
Organic cotton facts;
*Organic cotton is grown in certified pesticide-free and herbicide-free soil.
*Organic farming methods produce healthier fabrics, preserve the quality of our water and prevent toxins from entering the human food chain in the form of cottonseed and other byproducts.
Finish, non-toxic
Finishes (like adhesives) are an essential part of the furniture making process because they help preserve and protect furniture from water, household spills and general everyday use. Non-toxic finishes like Danish Oil Wax help eliminate Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from entering our homes and are safer for the environment. VOCs can be highly toxic and dangerous to human health.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "At present, not much is known about what health effects occur from the levels of organics usually found in homes. Many organic compounds are known to cause cancer in animals; some are suspected of causing, or are known to cause, cancer in humans." Non-toxic finishes remove the uncertainty and ensure healthier homes and a healthier environment.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The FSC is an international not-for-profit organization founded in 1993 by environmental groups like Greenpeace, The Sierra Club and World Wildlife Fund. Its mandate is to protect the world’s forests through globally recognized principles of responsible forest stewardship.
FSC certified sustainable wood is the only wood that is accepted under the U.S. Green Building Council’s stringent LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. FSC certified wood is also the only certified wood accepted in the bid specifications of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Part of what makes the FSC unique is the way in which it protects the rights of aboriginal peoples to utilize the forest for their culture, livelihood and spirituality.
Hemp
Hemp is one of civilization's most ancient, versatile and widely used textiles. Christopher Columbus made his sails and ropes out of it. Rembrandt painted on it. The first drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on it. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew it. Benjamin Franklin owned a mill that processed it. Henry Ford once made a car out of it.
Hemp fiber is the most durable and eco-sensible crop on the planet. Grown without chemical pesticides or toxic fertilizers, hemp produces more fiber yield per acre than any other crop. One acre of hemp can produce as much usable fiber as 4 acres of trees or two acres of cotton.
For those who enjoy smoking materials like steel, copper and cotton, industrial hemp will yield similar results.
Recycled Products
Recycling is the process of collecting, processing, remanufacturing, and reusing materials instead of discarding them. This helps conserve raw materials as well as the energy that manufacturers would use in producing new products. Recycling reduces the amount of material going into landfills. Recycling also helps reduce the pollution that may result from waste disposal.
Seatbelts
Crash-tested, post-industrial automotive seatbelts are kept out of landfills and given new life in eco-aware furniture.
Surplus Material
We like leftovers. Surplus material or fabric is left over from another manufacturer’s production. These materials would be discarded or left to rot if savvy designers and manufacturers didn’t sweep them up and turn them into things you want. By utilizing surplus material we are reducing waste, saving resources and consuming less of the earth’s natural resources.
Tencel
This super-fabric is not only ultra-soft and elegant with an incredible drape and versatility, it is also 100% biodegradable, durable, dye-able, and machine washable/dryable. What else could you ask for? That it be made of cellulose that is extracted from tree farms planted on land that is unsuitable for food crops or grazing? You got it.
Wild Harvested
This term is often applied to herbs and the essential oils they produce when they are cultivated without chemicals/pesticides.
Wood, Acacia
This superior wood comes from pod-bearing trees and is known for its beautiful grain and rich contrasting colors. In addition to being environmentally friendly, acacia has another unique distinction – it appears to change color and luster in different lighting conditions (a property called “chatoyancy”). The wood can morph from a light tan to dark brown. Acacia is also naturally resinous which makes it waterproof and impervious to stains and odors. A quick wash with soapy water is all the maintenance your acacia items require.
Wood, Amboyna
Amboyna is a lustrous reddish/gold colored hardwood that is sometimes referred to as Narra. The particular Amboyna used in the John Wiggers Collection carries a special provenance in the world of sustainable forest management, because it comes from the last remaining board known to exist of the very first wood to be sustainably harvested on the Solomon Islands in the early to mid-1990s.
Wood, Black Walnut
In his furniture pieces, designer John Wiggers will often inlay a rare sampling of Black Walnut wood into areas that are frequently touched. Native American medicine women discovered through many generations of trial, error and observation that this sampling of Black Walnut wood has medicinal properties that are useful in the prevention and treatment of disease.
It is believed that simply touching this wood will allow the active molecules (known scientifically as ellagitannins) of the tree to contact the surface of one’s skin, where these molecules can be absorbed into the pores.
In recent years a scientific basis for this ancient wisdom has been discovered, and these ellagitannin molecules are now at the leading edge of ongoing cancer research.
Wood, Hawthorn
Hawthorn is an extremely rare hardwood that was well known to ancient Greek herbalists, and has been used in Ayurvedic medicine dating back over 5000 years. In North America the bark, root bark, leaves, fresh and dried fruit, together with the nutlet seeds were used as a source of medicine.
Hawthorn gives off natural aroma therapeutic properties that are found to be hypotensive (they help relieve stress).
Hawthorn extracts are used in modern medicine as cardio tonics and also as effective coronary vasodilators.
Wood, Sassafras
Sassafras wood is native to North America, although variations of this tree species can be found in different parts of the world.
The word Sassafras comes from an aboriginal people known as the Narragansett, whose home was Long Island Sound. These people used the Sassafras as a source of medicine, as have many eastern tribes since time immemorial.
Sassafras wood produces an aromatic fragrance that is easily absorbed by the body, and produces an overall sense of well being. This fragrance is very closely related to Myrrh, one of the legendary spices of the ancient world. Sassafras is also used for purification in the Native American tradition of the sweat lodge ceremony.
John Wiggers will often use Sassafras to make pencil trays or drawer components. This allows the aroma therapeutic qualities of the Sassafras to accumulate naturally inside the drawer while it is closed, so that it can be released each time the drawer is pulled open.
Wood, Kiri
Kiri wood comes from the fast-growing paulownia tree and is praised not only for its striking natural grain, but also for being lightweight, strong and durable. Unlike most woods Kiri also avoids warping.
Wood, Ply-bent
Ply-bent (or molded ply) furniture techniques have been around for a little over 100 years and have been explored by a handful of designers including Aalto, Eames and Danko. It is extremely efficient as the chart (at right) demonstrates. 
PLY-BENDING FACTS:
1) Ply-bending yields 8-10 times more usable wood from a log than solid lumber.
2) Ply-bent furniture has greater potential to outlast solid wood furniture.
3) The energy utilized in converting wood from a raw material to a finished product is minuscule when compared to any other industrial material.
Making solid wood furniture can be an extremely wasteful process. Just think about the fact that a log is round while a wood board is rectangular. When a rectangular board is cut from a round log, all that wood in the circumference is wasted. Sure, some of it is recycled into chip-board, but chip-board is mixed with an almost equal volume of urea formaldehyde resin, an extremely toxic substance. Not cool and not healthy.
Ply-bending techniques, on the other hand, utilize an efficient log peeling process. First, the logs are cut to a length ordered by the customer. Then the log is put on a lathe. As it turns, the bark is removed and the veneer is peeled with a knife and comes off the log like paper towels come off a roll. The waste in this process is extremely minimal. In the hands of a master craftsman, the finished product takes on a stunning array of simple, sophisticated shapes.
Wool, Organic
This is the pure stuff. Unlike wool that is treated conventionally, organic wool is free from pesticides, formaldehyde, polyester, foams, dioxins and other additives. This wool gets the full organic treatment – it’s cleaned with biodegradable agents before being carded and spun at a certified-organic mill. Some companies even get their wool from sheep that are grazed on pesticide-free land and are never sprayed or dipped.
| 
