Amish Furniture is Eco-Friendly

Today, many people are becoming more concerned about the carbon footprint they leave behind. People are buying new cars so that they produce less carbon emissions, the government offers tax breaks for using renewable energy like solar energy, and people are buying household items made with recycled products or made with eco-friendly materials and power sources. Amish furniture is renowned for its durability and beauty, but did you know that it’s also used with eco-friendly materials and tools?

 

Not only do the Amish people mostly use unpowered hand tools to build their furniture, they also use eco-friendly wood in some cases as well. A lesser known hybrid wood, called Lyptus wood, grows in Brazil and is used by the Amish. Right now, the Amish are one of the only people to manufacture furniture and other products from Lyptus wood. The wood can be crafted into Amish bedroom furniture, Amish dining room furniture, and other pieces for around the office and home just as easily as other, natural hardwood. The wood looks like a mixture of Cherry wood and Mahogany. It’s a fairly light colored wood and it can be harvested every 14-16 years. The wood is renewable and fairly affordable, which is one reason why it has been popular with the Amish.

 

The finish options available for many of the furniture pieces are also green and eco-friendly as well. Whenever possible – with the exception of the Lyptus wood – the wood used for the Amish wood furniture is harvested from the United States, where much of the furniture is produced. Also, the forests where the wood is obtained from are purposely cultivated for Amish furniture use, so other forests are not being decimated needlessly.