Green is not a fashion colour or is it?
At the most recent furniture trade fair in Milan, the general tendency was conspicuously ecological. For the first time in its 40-year history, the trend-setting trade fair per se focused on the theme of ecology, its importance and sustainability. Moreover, many of the manufacturers propagated the concept of “green glamour” providing background rustling of leaves and twittering of birds. But if the rose-tinted glasses were discarded, the advocated “trend towards nature” often turned out to be a label swindle.
But wait – who is going to jump to conclusions prematurely?  After all, there is also an intense desire to create a sustainable and healthy style of living in the furniture and housing sectors; in addition, companies recognise the importance and the ethical ecological responsibility. You just have to look closely.
You can discover a new trend in many areas of the organic industry: What was still interspersed 20 years ago with determination and ideology appeals to a growing number of environmentally conscious but also pleasure and value-oriented people at the same time.
This also applies to the housing area and begins with the outside shell. Low-energy houses such as the solar community in Freiburg are not clumsy wooden cabins but real architectural gems with inner values. Suitable for everyday use and affordable on top of that. Architects are experimenting again with building materials such as straw and clay which have not been used for a long time, and are creating projects which establish the general direction for the future. First and foremost in the limelight are the Berlin architects von Graft who are building diverse homes for Brad Pitt and converting his existing ones over to solar energy.
One thing is clear: housing creates pollution, and not only due to heating needs, but also through the furnishings. Furniture has to be produced, transported and then discarded of. In all the stages that furniture passes through in its lifetime, it contributes to the change in climate. This can hardly be avoided, but there are differences.
Furniture manufactured from renewable raw materials such as wood have decisive benefits.  Here it is important where the wood comes from (a prime factor to be considered when buying furniture). The eco-friendly qualities of wood are not much use if it has to be transported under costly conditions. Furthermore, many furniture producers manufacture their products outside of Europe in countries where health or environmental regulations are completely lacking – not to speak of humane working conditions.
There are an increasing number of positive exceptions, however, that are assuming social responsibility beyond the borders of their own houses. They are not only producing outside of the country for wage cost reasons, but also because the extraction and manufacturing of the raw materials is more ecologically reasonable on site or because skills are in demand which cannot be performed here in these regions. This is because a product receives its chances of being as sustainable as possible in the manufacturing process and in its use right at the beginning when it is developed.
In times of rapidly changing fashions and values, the yearning for solidness is increasing. People are longing for durable products and contemporary design and distancing themselves from the “cheap-is-cool” mentality. The frequently cited “green glamour” is a basic attitude and by no means a short-lived trend.
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