We were all born and raised into this Earth and that gives us a good feeling of being a part of this wonderful world. Just like the way we grew up, we took on more responsibilities in our lives. One major part which we sometimes seem to neglect is our collective responsibility towards Mother Nature and thus – Earth. ‘Going Green’ is all about that. Going green is the global movement which emphasises on our responsibility towards leading lives that are focused around the idea of causing less harm to the Earth.
Truly speaking, furniture is the part and parcel of our daily lives, whether we’re at office or home. This is such an item which we use on a regular basis, and which we expect to serve us for a long time. After its estimated duration of serving us, we normally discard it or replace it. For going green, we have to carefully think what we purchase and what we discard.
Among the popular furniture options are the two materials of steel and wood. Aluminium is also a recent favourite. One of the key ways to go green is to think about what to do when a product expires its utility. Recycling is the most effective way of staying green and making things environment friendly.
On that note, choosing wood furniture is way better than choosing steel furniture. Starting with the basics, wood is a completely natural element. Wood is taken from timber and steel is not a completely natural element, it has to be made in a factory. Wood is such a material which will get mixed with the soil over a long period of time and not cause any harm to the environment, but steel is much more resilient to change and thus will take a way longer period of time to assimilate.
The time needed for any material to decompose into the Earth is a key indicator in terms of its greenness, or environment friendliness. Steel takes a very long time to degrade, and arguably it is non-degradable. According to some sources, larger pieces of steel or metal does not decompose, while the smaller ones degrade over a long time. Rusting can contribute to decomposition.
Wood on the other hand takes less time to decompose as it is a natural element which is susceptible to decompose as insects and other bio-organisms slowly decay the material over time. Steel does not have this property and the time taken to decompose is way more.
This reason alone is enough for us to rethink what materials to use for our furniture and with a simple choice of using wood, we can contribute fairly towards the environment for a greener world.
