How To Choose Eco Friendly Cafe Furniture For Your Establishment

pallet furnitureLess face it, you only have to pick up a newspaper or switch on the TV and it won’t be long before you hear the words ‘eco-friendly‘ or ‘going green‘. With much of the focus based around global warming and carbon footprints, then there’s no doubt that taking care of our environment is the responsible thing to do. So if you want to do your bit for the planet and get your message across to your customers that ‘green‘ is the way to go, then eco-friendly cafe furniture certainly makes the right statement. However, how do you know what to look for? Here are some important pointers.

Look for certified sustainable products

Irrespective of whether a piece of cafe furniture is made from wood, metal, or plastic there are eco-friendly options available. The world undoubtedly needs more trees not less, so practices that lead to deforestation aren’t cool. Likewise metals such as copper, zinc and industrial silver have been over-mined virtually to the extent where they won’t exist in their natural form by 2050. Moreover, conventional plastics pollute the environment while leaking toxic chemicals. Therefore look for furniture that’s made from sustainable products eg, those such as bamboo which is fast growing and versatile, or aluminium which is normally recycled over and over again and requires less processing. Any cafe furniture made from truly sustainable products should have a label detailing the fact.

Don’t forget reclaimed material

Furniture items made from reclaimed wood are becoming more and more popular not only because of their eco-message, but because of their aesthetic look. Reclaimed timbers have a certain weathered look for example that fit right in with many rustic or industrial styles that are popular right now. Pallet furniture is also pretty big right now and there are a handful of companies who use reclaimed wood pallets and turn them into exquisite, but robust furniture. A simple Google search for ‘reclaimed material furniture’ should yield some interesting results.

What about bamboo?

This deserves a whole section to itself because if ever there’s a product that is truly sustainable it’s bamboo. It’s strong, versatile, fast growing and can be used in a wide range of products including flooring, matting, window blinds and yes you’ve guessed it, cafe furniture. Most bamboo derives from China and is grown with few or no pesticides making it easy and cost-effective to maintain. For these reasons, bamboo continues to be the ‘go to’ material of many an environmental product or build.

Recycled plastic

While plastic has long been the villain of environmentalists, many companies now produce exquisite plastic furniture using recycled material. High Density Polyethylene or HDP for example is a raw material that’s derived from consumer bottle-waste including milk bottles, detergent bottles, and fruit juice bottles. It’s easy to mould, is strong and durable and can be coloured into just about any hue imaginable. HDP products exist in the form of tables, chairs and Ottomans, so look for the ‘recycled plastic’ or ‘HDP’ labels.

As you can see, there are lots of options available if you know what to look for, so there really is no excuse not to go green!

At Cafe Chairs Sydney we have a wide selection of affordable commercial-grade cafe furniture, some of which are made using eco-friendly materials. So why not log on to our website at www.cafechairssydney.com.au and take a closer look for yourself. In addition if you need further information about the type of furniture we have on offer, you can also call us on (02) 8379 7737

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