Sustainability doesn’t just extend to the clothes we choose to wear and the foods we eat. It also extends to the items we place in our homes and the furniture we buy.
For example, the average piece of furniture generates around approximately 47KG of carbon dioxide equivalents. It highlights the importance of making sustainability an overall life choice since it has such an impact on everything around us.
To help with this, we’ll show you some fantastic sustainable and ethical furniture brands you need to explore today. We’ll cover everything from bed frames to sofas to coffee tables.
Looking for a rug to complete your room? Check out our favorite non-toxic rug brands here.
14 Best Places to Buy Ethical and Sustainable Furniture
Medley
Furniture types: Sofas, sectionals, accessories, seating, bedroom, dining
Price range: $$$
Medley’s furniture is handmade in California. They use gorgeous earthy tones for their sofas and accessories, adding a modern touch to any home.
All items come with a 100-day free trial, and they’ve made the return process as simple as they can to ensure customers buy something they love.
No harsh chemicals are used in the manufacturing process, and the fabric chosen for sofas and seatings are mainly chosen to be durable and withstand stains and spills. If you’re unsure how their fabric handles wear and tear and general damage, you can request free fabric swatches before purchasing. Each component of the furniture is chosen for its sustainability, such as natural latex and FSC-certified forest products.
Alabama Sawyer
Furniture types: Tables, shelving, kitchen, flooring
Price range: $$-$$$
Alabama Sawyer promises furniture with a story, and they definitely deliver. They offer environmentally sustainable products from fallen trees in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Their furniture has unique designs and uses different materials to create effortlessly chic furniture. With their efforts, hundreds of logs have been diverted from landfills and used to build their furniture.
Alabama Sawyer’s Furniture is offered in multiple colors and sizes, making it a versatile choice. Their furniture is also designed to be a little irregular, to transform the conventional into unconventional, and it’s worth the end result. You’ll have storied furniture that not only has a past, but has a future in your home – sustainably.
Etsy Reclaimed Furniture
Furniture types: Tables, chairs, sofas, couches
Price range: $ – $$$
Etsy is already an excellent resource for small businesses, and sustainable furniture is no different. Etsy is a certified B Corp, which essentially means that they are legally required to evaluate the impacts their decisions have on workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
Etsy’s reclaimed furniture options are vast and endless, so if you’re looking for a wide variety of sustainable furniture choices, this is the right place for you. The extensive product options also means that there’s something to suit everyone’s budgets, which is always nice. Craftsmen and small businesses sell reclaimed furniture items on Etsy’s marketplace, so you’ll be supporting their work with your purchase.
Adventures in Furniture
Furniture types: Couches, tables, lighting, accessories
Price range: $ – $$$
Adventures in Furniture is a sustainable brand that knows how to do elegant and sophisticated furniture well. All furniture is made from FSC certified or recycled wood and has a unique look that adds a pop to decor. Each item also comes with an eco-rating system, showing the different eco and ethical credentials for each product.
They also offer free swatch samples, and their products range from practical tuckaway sofabeds to fun accessories to accentuate a room. More than 90% of furniture manufactured in Europe, and each item has a distinct look, making it a good choice for sustainable furniture.
West Elm Sustainably Sourced Collection
Furniture types: tables, stools, sofas, chairs, desks
Price range: $$-$$$$
While not all West Elm products are sustainably sourced, it’s great to see that they are trying to introduce sustainability into their ethos. If you’re not sure where West Elm’s sustainable collections are housed on their site, keep on the lookout for the “sustainably sourced” and “fair trade” markers on their products.
Products include both functional items and accessories, and West Elm strikes a good balance in promoting these products and some of their other less than sustainable products. For sustainable furniture items such as coffee and end tables, reclaimed wood is used, using FSC-certified pine.
Avocado
Furniture types: Mattresses, bedding, bed frames, dressers,
Price range: $$-$$$
Avocado excels at doing sleek, modern furniture that’s all about clean lines and elegant designs. Their furniture uses reclaimed wood, worked on by woodworkers in their Los Angeles workshop and finished with their signature ‘rustic raw’ look. 1% of Avocado’s profits are donated to environmental causes, and they are a GOTS certified brand.
Avocado is also passionate about ethical, locally made products. They are also a Carbonfree® Partner, which means factory and product shipping emissions are offset annually through carbon offsets purchased from Carbonfund.
The Citizenry
Furniture, types: Headboards, chairs, seatings, tables, and shelves
Price range: $$
Chic and modern, The Citizenry is changing the furniture world. The brand is committed to working with local artisans to support and preserve their craft with each product created. Traditional processes have carried over in their ethos, ensuring that these methods will continue to remain as time goes on. The brand currently pays artisans 2x the average wage for fair trade requirements.
The Citizenry uses local materials for all their furniture and is slowly beginning to choose to sell directly to consumers. The brand offers limited items to reduce waste and create gradually, but more thoughtfully. They only produce a handful of items for buyers, and each furniture piece has its own distinct charm and look, making their furniture very memorable.
Resource Furniture
Furniture types: Tables, sofas, sectionals, beds
Price range: $$$
Resource Furniture, as the name might imply, are all about creating ethical furniture that’s practical too. Items are designed to have multiple purposes (i.e., wall beds, coffee table with storage, etc.) so that each piece of furniture gives you both form and function. No prices are listed on the site, as items are custom designed, making it a more sustainable practice than mass production. They do offer limited quantities of quick ship offers, but prices vary.
Resource Furniture is dedicated to ethical manufacturing and using environmentally friendly materials and practices. The brand also works with nonprofit organizations to support causes relating to housing, education, and sustainability.
Mio
Furniture types: Tables, desks, stools, shelves
Price range: $-$$$
Another certified B Corp, like Etsy, Mio, focuses a lot on its impact and how to serve both customers and employees better. Their manufacturer selection is based on several factors, such as labor practices, commitment to efficiency and innovation, and geographic location.
This commitment alongside their B Corp status helps ensure that products are ethically manufactured in the most sustainable way possible. Moreover, Mio’s products are designed with as few resources as possible and made to be disassembled at the end of life, making it an incredibly practical option.
Sage Interior
Furniture types: Dining room, living room, accessories, office
Price range: $$$-$$$$
Sage is on the pricier side compared to some of the brands listed here, but once you see the furniture, their price tags make more sense. The brand uses reclaimed natural and sustainable materials, FSC™-certified, or sustainably sourced, which is great for those looking to buy sustainable. All items are made in the USA using all-natural upholstery and recycled materials.
To honor their namesake, Sage also gives back through Trees4Trees (T4T), an Indonesian non-profit foundation working to protect our natural forests. To date, Sage has planted almost 100,000 trees globally and given the surrounding areas economic support. Sage also partners with the northwestern Furniture Bank to provide useful, donated furniture to local families in need.
EcoBalanza
Furniture types: Sofas
Price range: $$$$
EcoBalanza prides itself on its non-toxic materials at each step of the manufacturing process. This includes 3rd party verified non-toxic fabrics, wool sourced from small farms, FSC-certified hardwood frames, and jute webbing and burlap, just to name a few. Suppliers the company works with also have 3-rd party certifications, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Global Organic Textile Standard, and Greenguard. All items used locally-sourced materials.
Based in Seattle, each sofa is custom-made. You can decide on specifications with them, and talented artisans can bring your design to life. Each EcoBalanza item is tailored to personal preference, including basic style choices.
Sabai Design
Furniture types: Sofas, sectionals, ottomans
Price range: $$$
Sabai Design is an excellent example of a niche, sustainable furniture brand, and what it can accomplish. Their products are affordable, and instead of offering many options, Sabai Design focuses solely on seating. Only non-toxic materials are used to construct their furniture, and there’s a special emphasis on the fabrics used. For their furniture, the fabrics used are made from natural fibers and recycle water bottles. The brand also uses FSC-certified wood, certiPUR-US certified foam, and recycled fiber pillows.
Products are designed and manufactured in the United States, and there’s a lot of thought that’s gone into each part of the brand. Boxes are 100% recycled, no plastic is used in packaging, and leg bags double as produce bags.
Wrapping Up: Sustainable Furniture Brands
As more sustainable furniture brands emerge in the market, it’s clear that there’s change brewing in how we view furniture and its manufacturing.
As these brands prove it’s possible to design and craft ethically manufactured furniture from sustainable materials.
With each of the brands listed here, you’ll be able to find a beautiful piece of furniture for your home that’s sustainability made and built to last forever.
If you’re looking for more eco-friendly home recommendations, check out our guides on eco-friendly plant pots, aprons, sustainable home goods, organic comforters, and organic bedding.
Thanks for reading.
