Easy Going Green

LACEY Enforcement Begins

2009-06-30T12:11:39-07:00

Enforcement of the LACEY Act for wood furniture begins July 1, 2009. Amendments passed last year make it illegal to import items that contain illegally logged wood. The definition of illegally logged is that which is either sold below market price or cut in violation of treaties, laws and regulations.The Act requires origin of wood species declarations from importers that contains the scientific name of the plant imported, its country of origin...

Alternative Oil Foam - Palm Green?

2009-06-29T12:08:00-07:00

Sam's Club just brought in a Task Chair from Qianglong Seating claiming on the packaging that they care about the environment and have used a Palm Oil content cushion. As always on Easy Going Green, I want to make sure to keep you informed of the environmental controversies surrounding new materials and also strive fror transparency in claims to consumers. There are people researching these materials and the claims surrounding them in every industry.

CARB Small Scale Test Approved

2009-06-22T08:30:00-07:00

CA Air Resource Board approved an alternate small scale test method [Dynamic Microchamber DMC] for conducting quality control testing of formaldehyde emissions from manufacturers of composite wood products despite complaints from certain furniture manufacturers (you know who you are)

Green Renewal

2009-06-15T12:16:00-07:00

Easy Going Green is back, and I am ready to renew my commitment this Blog. When I created it, I promised that it would be different than traditional publications like Furniture Today, Home World, etc. I would be commenting on, researching and reviewing sustainable furniture business practices and things like CARB, but without being skewed by an advertising base.

CARB Sell-Through Extended

2009-06-08T20:25:00-07:00

The California Air Resource Board has announced a four-month delay in the enforcement of the Phase 1 sell-through dates for distributors and retailers of composite wood product panels manufactured before January 1, 2009. The Advisory is available at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/compwood/outreach/sell_thru_advisory.pdf

ULEF Resin Application Available Thru CARB

2008-09-02T15:04:41-07:00

Application for the use of no added formaldehyde (NAF) base resins or ultra low emitting formaldehyde (ULEF) resins is now available through CARB or directly through download here.

PVC, Leather, Composite Wood - What's Safe?

2008-08-20T15:09:37-07:00

Innovative material or toxic banned liability? Where did we go wrong in the development process? Were our intentions all wrong or just our process? I got to thinking recently about whether or not anything is safe or at least questionable. I know it is what makes going green so frustrating for all of you because that is when you send me the e-mails. Evidently my post on Bonded Leather touched more nerves than I thought it would...but let's take a look at some materials historically and rethink our development process and maybe this time history won't keep repeating itself.