10 Outdoor Furniture Trends That Are Secretly Damaging the Environment

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Outdoor furniture has evolved into a life style statement, an expansion of your home and the ideal Instagram backdrop for summer get togethers. As demand rises, outdoor furniture trends are moving faster than ever, promising luxury, durability and eco-friendliness. However, like they say not all that glitters are gold. With a few of these trendy designs there are also hidden costs – costs the planet has to pay.

Some furniture comes with unintended environmental consequences — from overharvesting natural materials to sneaky synthetic shortcuts. They may look good in your backyard, but the story of what they do to forests, oceans, and ecosystems is not glamorous. So, before you go spend half your savings on that Pinterest perfect patio set, let’s talk about the outdoor furniture trends that are actually doing more harm than good.

Outdoor Single Season Cushions

Two Brown Wooden Outdoor Chairs
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Outdoor cushions that are everywhere these days are often just trendy, and meant for their looks rather than substance, using fabrics that have been chemically treated to make them water resistant. Often these treatments use perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, what some call “forever chemicals,” that don’t break down in the environment. It turns out, though, that after these cushions are discarded, they account for some long lasting pollution.

Powder-Coated Metal Furniture

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Powder coatings on metal furniture are all the rage for their sleek, modern look. However, these coatings typically rely on polyester or epoxy based powders that emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when made. VOCs can aggravate respiratory problems, and they are a culprit in air pollution.

Cheap Bamboo Sets

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Because bamboo grows quickly and regenerates naturally bamboo furniture is often marketed as eco friendly. However, bamboo grown in regions where it is harvested for demand creation has resulted in soil erosion and decreased biodiversity due to over harvesting.

Large Carbon Footprints of Imported Furniture

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That dreamy rattan chair from halfway across the world might seem harmless, but it also means shipping furniture over long distances, which greatly increases carbon emissions.

Canopies and Umbrellas with Synthetic Fabrics

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Synthetic fabrics like polyester and acrylic may not fade when used to create outdoor canopies and umbrellas, but they are petroleum based and will take hundreds of years to decompose. These fabrics also release microplastics when exposed to sun and rain and then wet and wash off into waterways and soil.

Throwaway Trendy Pieces

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The consumers are often pushed to buy cheaper and also lower quality furniture, meant to last only for a summer or two. It’s a disposable mindset that leads to lots of waste and furniture going in landfills.

Furniture Made From Pressure Treated Wood

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It may look attractive, but pressure treated wood is said to be durable to rot and insects, but the chemicals used (chromated copper arsenate, for instance) can leach over time into soil and groundwater. The USDA Forest Service studied the long term environmental impact and had concerns about these toxic substances.

Exotic Hardwood Furniture

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Exotic woods like teak and mahogany may be a scream of luxury, but these materials are all too often harvested from tropical rainforests. Illegal logging for tropical hardwoods is responsible for 15 percent of annual deforestation, according to a World Resources Institute report. Yet even when certified as ‘sustainably sourced,’ many suppliers flout rules, resulting in habitat destruction and biodiversity loss.

Foam-Filled Outdoor Sofas

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Polyurethane foam in outdoor sofas may feel nice and luxurious but chemical harm and greenhouse gases are involved (and emitted) in their production. And the foam doesn’t biodegrade, so it sticks around in landfills far longer than the furniture.

Plastic Wicker Furniture

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Affordable and weather resistant, plastic wicker furniture has become a staple of the backyard. Most of those pieces, however, are made from non recyclable synthetic materials, such as PVC. According to a Science Advances study, just 9 percent of all plastic waste ever created has been recycled. The rest? Either it is clogging landfills, or it gets washed up in oceans, hurting marine life.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.

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