5 Eco-Friendly Cabinet Options for Your Home
People around the world are recognizing the importance of
staying environmentally conscious in all aspects of life. There are many ways
to help out the planet apart from cutting back on plastic straw use and driving
less. In fact, revamping
aspects of your home to make them greener can play a large role in reducing
your carbon footprint. One of those aspects is choosing furniture and flooring
from organic materials. Specifically, when it comes to your kitchen, you can
end up paying a fortune for cabinets that are incredibly harmful to the
environment and your home’s air quality. To keep that from happening, we’ve
listed out some of the best eco-friendly cabinets for your kitchen—check them
out!
Eco-Friendly Cabinets for Your Kitchen
1.
Bamboo Cabinets
Bamboo is a wonderful flooring option, but it also makes for
a beautiful cabinet option. The wood is a rapidly renewable resource and is
considerably stronger and harder than other hardwood options. These cabinets
are often formaldehyde-free and have an unusual but attractive grain that can
add a unique aspect to your kitchen. Bamboo not only regenerates in less than a
decade but is also much better for the air quality within your home.
2.
Lyptus Cabinets
Another renewable resource, Lyptus is an engineered product
from a hybrid eucalyptus species. Reaching maturity in about 15 years, it takes
a quarter of the time needed for most hardwood options to grow. Even better, it
regenerates from the remains of harvested trees. It looks and feels similar to
Mahogany and Red Oak and take stains evenly. Further, their color range is
quite vast, ranging from light pink to darker earth tones.
3.
Salvaged or Reclaimed Wood Cabinets
Though decorators use salvaged and reclaimed
interchangeably, there’s a bit of a difference; however, both options make for wonderful
eco-friendly cabinets. Reclaimed wood is wood previously used in the
construction of buildings, whereas salvaged wood remains in its natural state.
Both options add a lot of character and history to a kitchen. Lather on a nice
stain and a non-toxic wood sealer
and you’ll be on your way to a beautiful, environmentally-friendly kitchen.
4.
FSC- and ESP-Certified Cabinets
If you don’t like the aforementioned cabinet options, then
look for cabinets with either a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) seal or an
Environment Stewardship Program (ESP) seal. These labels exist to help
consumers, designers, builders, etc. identify environmentally friendly
products. Cabinets with these seals will meet the requirements of air quality,
product resource management, environmental stewardship, and other strict
environmental standards.
5.
Formaldehyde-Free Cabinets
Finally, one of the main things that you should look for in a cabinet is that it is formaldehyde-free. Woodworkers often construct cabinets and the interior boxes out of fiberboard, plywood, or particleboard—all of which contain formaldehyde binders. Since it’s known as a carcinogen, you’ll want to steer clear of cabinets that include those products. Opt for formaldehyde-free and low- to non-VOC cabinets to ensure it’s an eco-friendly option.
