How can YOUR home remove carbon from the atmosphere?

Furniture makes up a large part of a home’s carbon footprint. How can your home be a part of the solution?

Photo by: Sigmund

Not only do plant-based products have the design and quality that many people crave for their home, but some of them can also decrease your carbon footprint.

In 2020, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that residential homes make up “20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States” from a study that analyzed 93 million American households.

Several businesses have started using fibrous hemp materials to change this figure. These brands develop sustainable products for the home that remove discarded hemp from the typical linear economic path. Home furniture, on average, generates “47 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents, which is roughly the same amount of greenhouse gases produced by burning around 5.3 gallons of petrol,” according to a study conducted by My Tool Shed.

Of these furniture emissions, 15% come from the manufacturing of timber and wood. So what if you could swap your wooden dining room chairs for hemp ones? Pollima, a company whose goal it is to be America’s first CO2 negative furniture company, aims to specialize in the design and manufacture of furniture that is made only from discarded hemp, cannabis, or other plant byproducts and 100% recycled steel. The organic material is shredded and compacted so all the carbon is sealed inside of the furniture. All of Pollima’s manufacturing processes will also be powered using renewable energy. They will also purchase carbon removal offsets to deliver your furniture carbon-free.

What about other types of furniture, like sofas and beds? Well, generating just the textiles for sofas can make up 20% of their carbon footprint. Hemp-based fabrics, on the other hand, take “50% less water to grow and produce than any other natural textile” and lock the carbon inside the formed material. This is why Mooncloth, a hemp textile and product design company, offers commercial-grade fabrics for all sorts of interior design needs, including upholstery. Hemp-based fabrics are durable, naturally hypoallergenic, and mold and mildew resistant, so they can also be used for window treatments and outdoor decor.

Sustainability can, and should be, an integral part of interior design thanks to new businesses pushing the boundaries of home furniture.