Apart from energy efficiency, if you want to give your house the eco touch, opt for this type of furniture that, although it doesn’t seem like it, use recycled materials.

The eco conscience has taken hold and we are paying more and more attention to the world around us.  This concern for the environment is expressed in our homes, by choosing more energy efficient housing or architecture that resuses waste materials.  But, what about the interior?

 

Recycled and recyclable furniture

The pioneer of this type of design is the great Philippe Starck.  In 2012, the French designer realised his dream with the Broom chair.  Made of recycled material, it is also 100% recyclable: its components and the waste it generates during production can be separated into wood and plastic so that they can be used again.

One of the newest names to appear in the world of furniture design is Pentatonic.  The British start-up just presented their first furniture and accessories collection for homes made from smartphones, soft-drink cans, and cigarette butts at the London Design Festival.  At the same festival, Benjamin Hubert presented his Axyl collection, created for Allermuir, in which he uses recycled aluminium, wood, and nylon to make furniture.  The Milo table, by French designer Tristán Titex, uses recycled offcuts from wooden boards and old furniture.

PET: more possibilities than you could imagine

When we talk about recycling, plastic bottles always come to mind.  Nowadays, their uses extend far beyond school art projects.  Last year, Ikea decided to create a kitchen made from recycled plastic bottles.

 

Cardboard: durable and recyclable

Do you already have a piece of cardboard furniture at home?  If not, it might not be long until you do.  More resistant than we might think, we can already find cardboard beds, tables, chairs and sofas, like those from Karton or Cardboard, on the market.  Given their functionality and the fact that, in the majority of cases,  they are foldable, makes them a great option for auxiliary furniture when you have guests.  What you might not know is that in the 1960s, the renowned architect Frank Gehry designed two lines of cardboard furniture, whch you can find at the MoMa in New York.

Oddly enough, even paper can be used to create a solid piece of furniture.  These benches and stools designed by WooJai Lee are made from building blocks of recycled newspapers.