Not only do construction materials affect air quality, but the environment is also impacted by what we use to finish the interior of our homes. No interior is ever complete without cabinets, but conventional cabinet-makers don’t always protect the environment, namely our forests. One local company looking to change that image. Country Pine Furniture, based out of Crossfield, Alberta has cropped up with an alternative for eco-friendly cabinets. “One of the key things we do is purchase only wood from mills that have a replanting program,” says Mark Lang, owner of the eight-year-old company.

The cabinets and furniture are only built from lumber produced in Canada such as oak, maple, birch, fir and spruce, a practice that cuts down on transportation and fuel costs. They also harvest dead-standing logs and sell sawdust to farms for bedding that farmers can later reuse as compost—nothing is left to waste.

Keeping with their principles, Country Pine Furniture also reclaims materials from demolition projects such as old barns, schools and churches. Anything salvageable like floor joists, roof joists and floorboards can be turned into furniture.

The customized products are finished with non-toxic water-based materials, which Lang says are safer for his employees than harsh chemicals typically sprayed on cabinets. Water-based stains have their benefit. “They are durable and the stain is instantly thicker, which makes it a quality finish overall,” he notes. “It’s less likely to crack and contract with the wood because the elasticity doesn’t break down on the finish.” Another durable and eco-friendly finish is beeswax. With a heritage-inspired style, beeswax is a highly polished varnish that builds up more resistance to scratching and denting as more layers are applied, closing the pores of the wood.

Country Pine Furniture is making a difference in the cabinet industry by going green, with many other manufacturers following suit in their respective fields. Take Mohawk Flooring. According to Frank Endrenyi vice-president of sustainable development, Mohawk opened a plant about two years ago to manufacture a new polymer called SmartStrand, which they teamed up with DuPont to create. This carpet uses DuPont’s Sorona fibre that has 37 per cent of its ingredients derived from corn sugar—a renewable resource. Endrenyi says, “The manufacturing of this product releases less global warming chemicals, saves on petroleum stock and uses less depleted raw material.” Not only that, this special blend of ingredients creates a unique stain resistibility that is naturally inherent in the fibre, thus eliminating the need for a stain repellent, something this industry has never seen before.

Also rarely seen before is the manufacturing plant for everSTRAND carpet. “We own the largest single vertically integrated plastic bottle recycling facility in North America,” says Endrenyi, of the factory which recycles almost 25 per cent or 250 million pounds of bottles collected in North America a year to make the everSTRAND carpet fibre. This carpet fibre is made using PET (polyethylene terephthalate) that can be extruded from recycled plastic bottles.

However, if you’re trying to stay away from synthetics in general, Nature’s Carpet is a great alternative. Carried by Riva’s—The Eco Store in Calgary, Nature’s Carpet is made of 100 per cent all natural wool. Store owner, Riva Mackie says wool will shed a bit but this is beneficial since “it’ll never look worn and creates a newer, fresher look.” A misconception regarding wool is that it is scratchy, but Mackie assures if wool is processed and farmed properly, it will actually be soft to the touch. Even the backing of the carpet is made of a natural fibre, jute. Natural fibres do not give off harmful emissions, keeping our indoor air clean, and the life of Nature’s Carpet outlasts the competition by far. But if you do need to change it down the road, fear not, wool is biodegradable.

Another warm flooring option is the increasingly popular cork flooring. Expanko cork is another brand carried by Riva’s and comes highly recommended by Mackie. After much research, she learned that cork flooring is one of the most sustainable products on the market. “I found out that cork actually needs to be harvested every five or seven years in order to grow,” says Mackie. Cork is produced by stripping a layer of bark off a cork oak tree, according to the Expanko website, and inflicts no damage to the tree at all. Expanko even uses between 80 to 100 per cent of postproduction waste from other cork products such as wine stoppers, to create their cork flooring.

Mackie’s store, which opened just this year, carries many eco-friendly products including clothing and home furnishings. Mackie began manufacturing mattresses under the name Riva’s Healthy Home. She discovered many mattresses that claim to sell natural latex are actually only 40 per cent latex blended with synthetic material, whereas Riva’s Healthy Home mattresses have 97 per cent natural latex. Instead of treating the mattress with flame-retardant chemicals, she uses wool—one of the hardest fibres to ignite. “Our latex foam comes from Malaysia,” says Mackie. “We are creating a lot of fair trade jobs there,” giving people one more reason to support Riva’s mattresses. A queen-sized mattress goes for about $1,999 and with a foundation for $2,800.

Riva’s—The Eco Store is also home to many other sustainable products such as milk paints (by Old Fashioned Milk Paints), non-toxic paints (by Yolo Colourhouse and Mythic Non-Toxic Paint), environmentally-friendly hardwood and bamboo flooring (by Eco-Timber), Marmoleum flooring (made from predominantly harvested natural raw materials by Forbo), countertops (recycled glass by Trinity Glass and Squak Mountain Stone; recycled post-industrial scrap waste countertop by Alkemi; and recycled paper by Paperstone), recycled denim insulation (by UltraTouch) and wall plasters (by American Clay).

Doing your part means doing your best to save our environment, one step at a time, one wall at a time, one floor at a time.   NL

For more information
Mohawk Flooring
>> http://www.mohawk-flooring.com

Country Pine Furniture
>> http://www.countrypine.ca

Mohawk Flooring
>> http://www.rivasecostore.com