“You use your textiles every day—and they come into direct contact with your body—so it’s extremely important to look for options that are safe for your skin,” says Parachute founder Ariel Kaye. “Companies frequently manipulate the term organic when labeling their textiles, so fibers grown organically but processed with toxic chemicals may still carry the label.” And that’s just textiles. In looking for all-star brands that prioritize minimal chemical emissions, biodegradable packaging and an overall reduced footprint, we also looked at brands sourcing wood, metal and tile—and asked what was used to paint or finish them, too. Shopping with upcycled materials or ethical manufacturing in mind? Find the rest of BOH’s green shopping guide here.
Homepage photo: Courtesy of Plain English. Product photography: Courtesy of brands.
Sagegreenlife: The Chicago firm contracts with horticulturists and engineers around the globe to install living walls, which are planted
in Biotiles, patented tiles that use Rockwool (fibers created by combining rock and chalk at high heat) instead of soil.
Fermob: The French outdoor furniture manufacturer makes the Adada rocking horse from leftover parts from the manufacturing process of its other lines.
Sunbrella: The performance textiles brand owns and operates solar arrays at its factories that generate enough energy to power more than 150 homes. It recycles postindustrial waste into its Renaissance yarn, and its Anderson, South Carolina, facility staffers plant trees, restore habitats and clean up highways.
Ziggy: The brand’s handcrafted pieces, like the Charles dresser, are made of formaldehyde-free North American plywood and coated in a water-based finish.
Plain English: The British company, which opened its first New York outpost last year, adheres to a zero-waste policy at its workshop. While producing its custom-designed and built-to-order kitchens,
it burns sawdust and offcuts to heat its workshop.
Plover: The home textiles brand opts for hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine to bleach the organic fabrics used in its limited-run collections, like the Black Geo Circles sheet set.
Artistic Tile: It takes 60,000 gallons of water a day to make pieces like the Euclid collection—but it's all reused, thanks to a proprietary system that collects rainfall and filters up to 200 gallons per minute.
Copeland Furniture: To make products like the Estelle armchair, the manufacturer operates a solar field on its factory grounds that produces more than 800,000 kilowatt hours of power annually—roughly two-thirds of its power consumption.
Cerno: Last year, the lighting company planted more than 100 trees in a creek near its manufacturing facility in Laguna Beach, California, with the aim of reducing the runoff that reaches the beach. Unused material from products like the Nauta table lamp are repurposed or recycled.
Parachute: The brand's textiles, like its Tassel towels, are not only grown organically, but Oeko-Tex certified—which means
no harmful chemicals were used at any stage of production.
Linda Cabot Design: The Boston designer's Symmetry placemat is digitally printed on organic cotton from India using biodegradable ink.
Team 7: The Austrian cabinetry and furniture maker sources wood from its own forests in the north of the country; the rest of its supply comes from sustainably managed European forests.
