Greener Guides

Smaller-scale furniture producers inherently operate on more eco-friendly terms than do most large corporations. SMEs purchase more goods locally, use materials efficiently and are less likely to spoil their own backyards. Unfortunately, a tidal wave of big-business green washing and media hype is swamping the consumer and drowning the SMEs' visibility. Sustainable SMEs need to rescue the situation by promoting their eco-strategies as credibly as possible. VCR has reviewed four recent publications (below) that can help SMEs stay afloat.

Even with these recommended guides, establishing an in-house eco-plan can seem daunting. SMEs can lighten the load by involving employees to share the various tasks outlined in these publications. Having decided on the assessment criteria, SMEs can survey their current eco-practices and set targets for improvements. Results of efforts can be published on the company website or in a binder for the showroom. Then, the next time a prospective purchaser asks how "green" a product is, the facts - and not the hype - can speak for themselves.

The Business Guide to Sustainability
By Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard

With chapters aimed at senior managers, purchasing departments, human resources personnel, government bureaucrats and the like, this recent 248-page book may seem an odd recommendation. It's included here because Hitchcock and Willard's comprehensive compendium of sustainability information isn't a rigid treatise and offers something for everyone.

Examples of "green" initiatives are described in a readable, non-overly technical style, which makes this publication an ideal introduction to the subject. The book's format mimics the basic "how to learn a language" text. An introduction provides an overview of the topic; then readers can choose chapters/sections relevant to their needs, follow links to other resources and complete self-assessment forms to test their business's performance.

From an SME's persective, the constant referral to sustainability initiatives by large corporations is the book's only weakness.

Two online sources for the title are Canada UBC Press ($49.95), USA Amazon ($40.96); prices are estimated.

Okala: learning ecological design
By Philip White, Steve Belletire and Louise St. Pierre

Written by three industrial design educators for an "ecological curriculum" aimed at practising designers and university-level students, this 68-page booklet speaks the language of designers. It challenges designers to understand the evolutionary ecological "performance" of their products and explains the impacts of manufacturing on our atmosphere, natural resources and health.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one tool presented to help quantify the negative environmental, economic and social costs of making products. The 240 "Okala factors" and CO₂ equivalents included are compiled from several sources and adapted for North America. Designers and manufacturers can use this data to compare the eco-values of materials, processes, transporation and disposal. For example, furniture manufacturers can use the transportation data to calculate the CO₂ generated by their shipping methods (shipped 4,000 miles, a 100 lb. cabinet generates 22 lbs. by truck and 4 lbs. by train).

In their conclusion, the authors discuss how designer can (and should) be advocates for the environment.

Booklet available from IDSA, $10 USD plus shipping.

(VCR thanks Okala Team member Philip White, IDSA, for providing valuable insights into eco-design implementation.)

Eco Design Manual
By Leonardo da Vinci programme

A consortium of organizations, based in Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Netherlands and Portugal, produced this 12-part, 190-page "manual" (provided in PDF). The publication helps smaller-scale product manufacturers with limited resources and time to implement an eco-design project. (As an adjunct to this manual, the group publishes a furniture-specific manual - see below.)

"Ecodesign Project," the main document (presented in a Zip folder), comprises 66 pages. Another 10 documents focus on marketing, benchmarking, creative thinking, motivation and include a list of "eco indicators" from Eco-Indicator'99 published by PRé Consultants. A series of checklists for evaluating the steps in product development round out the remaining 42 pages.

Even with its minor translation problems and European-centric flavour, North American SMEs on a limited budget will find this free introduction to eco-design hard to beat.

(Update 2010: Eco Design Manual PDF is no longer available from the original source, Contact VCR for more information.)

Eco Design: Sectoral Manual for Furniture
By Leonardo da Vinci programme, Tallin, Estonia

The same group that published the Eco Design Manual (above) released this furniture-specific adjunct (in PDF) in 2006, with a specific credit assigned to the Stockholm Environment Institute based in Tallinn, Estonia.

The first section of this colour publication shows examples of eco-furniture from manufacturers such as Metamorf, Modella, Ofita and Herman Miller. The following pages list options for manufacturers to improve eco-performance in sales, purchasing, design, assembly and upholstery. A series of "tips" specifically relates to the production of wood components. Unlike the main manual, the eco-indicators included use the more dated Eco-Indicator 95 data from PRé Consultants.

As the only furniture-industry document included in the group, this 32-page PDF may be a good starting point for furniture SMEs but needs to be used in conjunction with the main manual. The Business Guide to Sustainability and the Okala guide provide the needed geographical perspective for furniture designers and SMEs based in North America.

(Update 2010: Eco Design: Sectoral Manual for Furniture PDF is no longer available from the original source, Contact VCR for more information.)