Creating an Eco Friendly Bedroom

It seems like everywhere you look, there are stores pedaling various types of ‘green,’ eco-friendly products. Everything from eco-friendly food to eco-friendly furniture – environmentally-friendly products are almost trendy. I guess we really can’t complain, given the state of the environment today. Any step towards a ‘greener’ world is a step in the right direction. The increasing number of eco-friendly products on the market is making it a whole lot easier for you and I to live greener lives, but where do you start? How about the bedroom? Considering how much time the average person spends sleeping, it makes perfect sense to turn your bedroom into an eco-friendly haven!

Let’s start with the bed. Plenty of bedroom furniture manufacturers pride themselves on their environmentally sound production practices. Lifestyle Solutions, for instance has been certified for compliance with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) guidelines for sustainable management of tropical forests. All of their products are constructed from plantation-grown imported hardwood to ensure sustainable use of timber. Furniture juggernaut Vaughan-Bassett goes the extra mile by actually planting a tree for every tree used in both its domestically produced and imported furniture. Purchase a bed, plant a tree. It’s that simple – well hopefully it doesn’t take a whole tree to make one bed, but you get the idea.  (Image on left: Vaughan-Bassett – Night and Day Arched Slat Bedroom Set).

There’s no shortage of eco-friendly bedding options for you to choose from everything from organic wools and cottons to soy and bamboo linens. Bamboo in particular is all the rage right now because of it’s natural anti-bacterial properties and because it requires fewer pesticides to cultivate than cotton. Bamboo sheets, pillows, duvets and comforters – even bamboo crib bedding for baby! Rest assured you’ll be sleeping greener in no time. Add an eco-friendly mattress and mattress pad and you’ll be even more golden. Lawrence Home Fashions, DwellStudio and Amenity Home all make beautiful eco-friendly bedding, while Natural Mat offers a great line of green crib bedding.(Image on right: Lawrence Home Fashions – Landscape Comforter Series (Bamboo/Cotton Blend)).

Why not go a step further and add an earth-friendly area rug to your bedroom floor? Available in a slew of eco-friendly materials including bamboo, sisal, jute, seagrass and organic cottons, you can add a splash of color and brightening up your whole room. Now all you have to do is change out your incandescent light bulbs and switch them to energy-efficient CFLs and you have an eco-friendly from bed to toe! Remember that every little bit helps so even if you make a couple of these adjustments, both you and the environment will be better for it.

Guest Columnist: Jamie Sward is a home decor expert at Bedroom Furniture Direct. He is interested in promoting an eco friendly lifestyle, sharing his knowledge with other eco conscious design enthusiasts. Bedroom Furniture Direct offers a huge selection of eco friendly bedroom furniture as well as a great selection of green and organic bedding.

Reprint permission.