Green Thoughts

In "Green Thoughts," Heath Combs will keep you on top of green initiatives across the home furnishings industry. Each week he will focus on an array of sustainability focused news, analysis and insights from government agencies, furnishings companies, marketing companies, trendsetting corporations, non-governmental organizations, the design community and researchers.

What about the 29%?

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-10-01 20:39:32

In a country obsessed with percentages as of late, lets take a look at a couple from Furniture/Today's biennial case goods style survey. The survey is currently available to readers as a free download via this link until Oct. 19. After that, it's for sale. There's some interesting data on the industry's eco-needle here. The report shows market share data based on units for all case goods and much... Read More

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Industries: Homepage, Green / Eco-Friendly

If the North Pole melts, where do I tell my kid Santa lives?

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-09-06 18:28:53

Sometimes I wonder what it would take to end the climate change debate. What would be a compelling argument? Because deep down, there is a journalist part of me that is naturally skeptical. Too skeptical in fact to be 100% sure. To give a good furniture answer: I'd say I'm sure up into the high "double digits." With gains this year. Probably enough to where I'd be labeled an alarmist by... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly, Homepage

Still some questions on Lacey settlement

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-08-16 14:33:13

Fans of limited government, this was your year. According to USA Today, the 112th Congress was the least productive in the post-World War II era.And under a Democratic president no less. We may be looking at a trend, according to a December article from the Washington Post.I love history. Specifically U.S. history. I just wrapped up reading about the 1828 elections, my second venture through this... Read More

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Summer

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-08-06 20:40:15

A couple weeks ago, renowned climatologist and sometime political pundit George Will explained on ABC's "This Week" the year's late extreme weather. "Summer." That was his one word diagnosis for us novices. Baseball is his stronger suit. The remark was a good example of what's wrong with the pundit heavy, expert light debate on this issue. The "This Week" round table... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly

On news sources, the Lacey Act and a new TB 117

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-07-19 20:17:23

News aggregators aren't necessarily a bad thing. I've found one that gives me a nice dose about what's trending in environmental topics and it's worth recommending. Environmental Health News, a publishing site funded by foundations that don't accept funding from interest groups, offers a daily newsletter that aggregates content from The Guardian, New York Times and The Nation, among a slew of othe... Read More

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Mainstreaming the whole 'green' thing

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-07-05 20:45:34

I'll just admit it. The word 'green' makes me feel green at times - in a sick-to-my-stomach sort of way. I hate catchall terms that cram any idea regardless of its complexity into a box. Sometimes when green issues come up now, I can see people in the room getting a little uncomfortable. Like it's a dead issue. A couple more springs, winters and summers like this and we'll see how much of a dead i... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly, Furniture Manufacturing

The $23 million question

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-06-25 15:32:20

Turns out you can put a price on nefarious influence in California: $23 million. And in regards to toxic flame retardants California, I am now watching for what happens and doesn't happen. In political theater, this is the time to watch. That's because Gov. Jerry Brown has called for reform of TB 117, the state regulation that governs fire retardants in furniture, and it's possible to get the good... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly, Homepage

The Lacey distrACTion

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-06-07 15:40:22

I really wanted to let this one go. Shut up brain and write about something else. Until this headline - probably written by a former reporter - popped up on a press release in my inbox on May 23: "Markey, Blumenauer: Musicians ‘Can't Get No Satisfaction' from Guitars Made of Illegal Wood"Here's the skinny. New amendments were added to the federal Lacey Act in 2008 to cut down on illegal... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly

The Grist of the story

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-05-17 19:04:04

One of the great websites I've been reading a lot these last several weeks is Grist. It's based in Seattle and it has been around for more than a decade. I'll admit that I had a tough time keeping updated on green issues during the recession. Grist is really attractive if you took a green hiatus at any point during the recession and you want to catch up. What I like about Grist is its attitude. In... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly, Homepage

Is there a compelling green story for consumers?

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-05-03 18:57:07

Right off the top I want to applaud Groovystuff founder Chris Bruning and the folks at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Sawbridge Studios and Horigan Urban Forest Products for their design competitions. I think it's great that the up and coming generation of furniture designers have these competitions, and a little green inspiration, to participate in. It gives the product a great story, a li... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly, Homepage

The Green Gap

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-04-19 16:32:02

I watched a documentary film last weekend called "Girl Model" at the RiverRun International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C., where I live. It tracks an impoverished 13-year-old Siberian girl's dream of becoming a famous model. She's picked in a talent search in Russia from a massive group of young teens. She signs a contract and is sent to Japan to work. She becomes part of a viciou... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly, Homepage

The great green momentum killer

Posted by Heath E. Combs on 2012-04-05 14:56:51

I think the last time we put the green newsletter out was in the fall of 2008. You remember 2008? Between August and November that year the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 3,500 points from about 11,600. Its low would be 6,626 in March 2009. I remember an oft sick feeling in the pit of my stomach then. We'd peaked in the fall of 2007 above 14,000 points. The Dow (finally) broke 13,000 t... Read More

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Industries: Green / Eco-Friendly, Homepage