If you’re looking to finish your kitchen, bar area, or other seating arrangement with a set of sustainable bar stools (or counter stools) then you’ve come to the right place.
How To Source Sustainable Bar Stools and Counter Stools
I was looking for sustainable counter stools last year because my husband and I’s apartment had a large countertop and no room for a kitchen table.
We liked how the layout utilized the small space efficiently, making it feel like we had more space than we really did! However it’s not as easy to find beautiful counter stools as it is to find other sorts of dining chairs!
After borrowing my parent’s barstools for a few months, we came across the perfect set of mid-century modern-esque secondhand counter stools from the peer-to-peer resale app OfferUp.
There are many ways to source sustainable bar stools or counter stools. And which way is right for you depends on your budget and circumstances!
Secondhand Apps
This option is usually the cheapest, but may require a lot of time searching and picking up the items.
We used OfferUp, because we were on a pretty tight budget, had the ability to wait (since we could borrow my parents’ stools), and weren’t ready to invest in our “forever home” (we don’t know if our future living spaces will require counter stools).
Curated Secondhand Sites
These tend to be the second most affordable option for counter stools, bar stools, or any other piece of furniture. You pay a bit of a premium over something like OfferUp or Facebook Marketplace, because the pieces are more curated, the photography is typically way better, and some places may even handle the shipping and logistics for you!
Here are a few to check out:
- AptDeco: Advertised as the easiest way to shop secondhand furniture, AptDeco provides a professional delivery service, including pickup, delivery, and assembly within the contiguous U.S.
- Kaiyo: Another online secondhand furniture marketplace that handles the delivery for resellers and shoppers!
- Chairish: mecca for vintage furniture (typically on the more expensive side)
New Eco-Friendly Bar Stools and Counter Stools
You may want to shop for new sustainable counter stools and bar stools if you don’t have as much time to hunt for treasures on the secondhand market, want to invest in a long-term piece of furniture, or have a very specific set of aesthetic preferences.
You might also look for new eco-friendly counter stool options if you want to make sure your stools are non-toxic, and made without harmful chemicals.
Below are some vetted resources for finding sustainable bar and counter stools! Transparency note: this guide contains affiliate links. As always we only feature brands that meet strict criteria for sustainability that we love — and that we think you’ll love too.
Our Favorite Places to Find Sustainable Bar Stools & Counter Stools
1. Made Trade
Materials: Recycled Aluminum, Reclaimed Wood, Sustainably-Sourced Wood
Highlights: Durable, Repurposed Materials, Suitable For Outdoors
Price: $460+
Sustainable lifestyle retailer Made Trade has a selection of eco-friendly stools designed to last for lifetimes. Their sustainable bar stools and counter stools from Emeco are made in Pennsylvania from repurposed materials and are designed to commercial-grade standards. Many options are also suitable for use as outdoor furniture!
2. Maiden Home
Materials: Solid Ash or Oak Wood | Fabric or Leather Upholstery
Highlights: Handmade to Order in North Carolina, Woman-Founded, Solid Wood
Price: $850+
Maiden Home is a women-founded direct-to-consumer furniture brand with some of the most gorgeous earth-minded furniture you’ll find. And that includes their organic, contemporary sustainable bar stools and counter stools that are expertly crafted to order by North Carolina furniture artisans just for you.
3. Medley
Materials: Domestically Sourced Wood, CertiPUR-US®-certified foam
Highlights: Made-to-Order, Crafted in California, Solid Wood, In-Home Trial
Price: $695
Handcrafted in California to your specifications with quality sustainable materials — like domestic solid alder, walnut, and maple wood — Medley’s sleek modern furniture is as sustainable as it is beautiful. The company has one eco-friendly counter stool available, called the Jasmi Counter Stool as well as other dining chairs.
4. Greenington
Materials: Solid Moso Bamboo, Some Leather Upholstery
Highlights: Tree-Free, Ergonomic Design
Price: $630+
Greenington is among the most popular sustainable furniture brands for a reason. As a founding member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, Greenington uses 100% solid Moso bamboo for their furniture — a material they claim is 20% harder than red oak. They offer eco-friendly counter stools and bar stools in a stunning variety of finishes.
5. VivaTerra
Materials: Teak Wood, Banana Bark,, Repurposed and Reclaimed Wood
Highlights: Natural and Recycled Materials, Artisan Handmade
Price: $379+
Green lifestyle online retailer VivaTerra has plenty of sustainable stools, including bar stools, counter stools, bathroom stools, accent stools, and garden stools. You can even find a full kitchen island set or repurposed barrel bar set, each complete with two stools. Check out the product icons to see each item’s sustainability qualities.
6. Pottery Barn
Materials: Reclaimed Wood, Recycled Aluminum, Recycled Plastic
Highlights: Expertly Crafted, Natural and Repurposed Materials
Price: $159+
Furniture brand Pottery Barn has recently been expanding their sustainably sourced collection, so you may just find your new eco-friendly bar and counter stools there. Their collection features stools made from reclaimed and recycled materials in a range of aesthetics, from farmhouse chic to mid-century modern.
7. West Elm
Materials: Sustainably-Sourced Wood
Highlights: Quality Products, Use of Some Responsible Materials
Price: $219
Another larger furniture retailer with a sustainably sourced collection is West Elm. Their selection is a bit smaller, but you can still find an eco-friendly bar stool / counter stool made from FSC-Certified wood from responsibly managed forests or contract-grade mango wood sourced from trees that no longer produce fruits.
Looking to complete your eco space?
Check out our full guide to sustainable furniture brands and our guide to non-toxic furniture brands.
Pin this sustainable stools guide for later:
The post 7 Sustainable Bar Stools and Counter Stools To Complete Your Space (2024) appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
7 Sustainable Bar Stools and Counter Stools To Complete Your Space (2024)
Just like fashion has been overrun by fast fashion, home goods and furniture have similarly seen a rapid decline in quality. Rugs are no exception.
And similar to fashion, these cheap goods come at a high cost — namely, to the planet and to people. In fact carpet and rug production is rampant with exploitation.
On the other hand, fair trade rugs present the best of what a rug can bring to your home: artistry, craftsmanship, and heritage.
The brands featured in this guide are partnering with (and fairly paying!) skilled artisans who are using generations-old — and sometimes even centuries-old — techniques. These artisans are sustaining long lines of crafts, preserving their cultural diversity, and celebrating the richness of their time-honored crafts.
There’s simply no replacement for a timeless, quality artisan-made rug — they’re like pieces of art you can lay out on your floor or hang on your walls.
So, enjoy browsing through this guide to sustainable rug brands listed out below and best of luck on your search for the right fair trade rug!
Where to Find Ethical and Fair Trade Rugs
Note that this guide includes affiliates and partners. As always, brands must meet high standards for ethics and sustainability to be featured and all opinions are my own.
1. Obakki
Best for: warm-hued handwoven wool rugs
Categories: Area Rugs, Runners, Accent Rugs
Obakki partners with artisan weavers primarily in Oaxaca, Mexico — including individual makers like José — who hand-dyes and weaves rugs on a traditional pedal loom using locally sourced sheep’s wool and natural dyes derived from native plants. The brand also works with Rrres Design Studio, a Latin American studio dedicated to preserving traditional Oaxacan weaving techniques, and sources handwoven textiles from artisan communities beyond Mexico as well, including Morocco.
Each rug is made from 100% wool with no synthetic dyes or backing. Most pieces are made-to-order with a 4-8 week production window, shipped directly from the artisan partners.
Price Range: $460 – $4,159
Conscious Qualities: Natural Fibers, Natural Dyes, Craft Preservation
2. Kiliim
Best for: modern wool kilim rugs
Categories: Area Rugs, Accent Rugs
If you’re well-versed in rug terminology, you may recognize that this brand’s name looks similar to the word kilim.
Kiliim’s rug are made using authentic kilim rug craftsmanship by artisans in Egypt coming from generations of kilim artisans. To ensure ethical production and to support the preservation of this heritage craft, Kiliim pays living wages to all artisans.
Price Range: $95 – $4,812
Conscious Qualities: Ethical Production, Heritage Craft Preservation, Natural Fibers
3. Urban Natural
Best for: browsing fair trade rugs in lots of styles and sizes
Categories: Outdoor, Area Rugs, and Accent Rugs
This natural home and lifestyle retailer has a beautifully curated selection of sustainably-made rugs crafted with materials like jute, sisal, wool, and cotton.
Several brands on Urban Natural are also ethically hand-loomed or hand-knotted, such as Loloi — a GoodWeave partner — and Jaipur Living — a brand that partners with thousands of local artisans to sustain heritage crafts.
Price Range: $259 – $9,755
Conscious Qualities: Eco-Conscious Materials
4. LOOMY
Best for: pet-friendly and performance rugs
Categories: Area Rugs, Accent Rugs, Runners, Outdoor Rugs
Founded by a weaver, LOOMY is dedicated to crafting beautiful artisan-made rugs that will last for decades to come.
LOOMY partners with highly-skilled artisan weavers who craft quality rugs made from eco-minded materials like banana silk, jute, and recycled cotton, plus performance options made from 100% recycled polyester built to withstand whatever life brings you.
Price Range: $298 – $8,298
Conscious Qualities: Natural Fibers, Craft Preservation, Vintage Options
5. West Elm
Best for: fair trade rugs in on-trend mainstream styles
Categories: Area Rugs, Accent Rugs
West Elm is bringing ethical rugs to a broader market with their collection of Fair Trade Certified
wool and cotton rugs. While I recommend browsing the smaller shops listed above first, West Elm is supporting the movement to responsibly-made, fair trade rugs.
Price Range: $$$
Conscious Qualities: Fair Trade production, Majority Natural Materials
6. Jubi
Best for: Modern rugs in vibrant prints
Categories: Accent Rugs, Circle Rugs, Runners
Jubi is a Brooklyn studio founded by textile designer Cassie Dagostino. Every rug is handmade from New Zealand wool by fourth-generation weaving families in Bhadohi, India using traditional techniques. Each rug is made-to-order, meaning no excess stock. Since everything is made to order, expect between 3 and 7 weeks for your rug, depending on the technique used.
Conscious Qualities: Pays Above Market Rates, 100% Wool, Made-to-Order
Price Range: $228 – $668
Shipping: Free worldwide shipping
7. Rejuvenation
Best for: Classic rug styles made in Fair Trade factories
Categories: Accent Rugs, Runners, Area Rugs
Home retailer Rejuvenation has a selection of rugs made in Fair Trade Certified factories. Their collection includes undyed hand-loomed rugs to geometric flatwoven wool rugs. And while I’d typically avoid synthetics, it tends to be unavoidable for outdoor rugs — so Rejuvenation’s Fair Trade 100% recycled poly rug is a good option.
Conscious Qualities: Fair Trade Certified, Mostly Natural Materials
Price Range: $79 – $1,649
Shipping: Contiguous U.S. shipping for 10% of product price (add $20 for HI, AK, and US. territorries)
Liked this guide to ethical rugs? You might also enjoy:
Ethical Home Decor Brands to Curate a Beautiful, Conscious Space
Eco-Friendly Furniture to Furnish Your Home Sustainably
Fair Trade and Eco-Friendly Blankets to Cozy Up With
The post 5 Best Ethical Fair Trade Rugs to Elevate Your Space appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
As a longtime book lover, I may be biased, but I think a full bookshelf is one of the most beautiful additions to a space. There’s nothing better than seeing a showcase of your favorite reads alongside a TBR list.
A bookcase, though, can of course be used for all sorts of purposes from placing your favorite photos of family and friends to showcasing treasured vintage finds.
Whatever the case, this guide will help you find the right sustainable bookshelf for your living room, office, or wherever you like to cozy up with a good read!
So what make a bookcase more sustainable? What makes a bookshelf non-toxic?
First of all: sustainable and non-toxic are two overlapping — but distinct — criteria. And both of those terms can come with a lot of opinions and varying definitions.
When it comes to sustainable bookcases, I look for:
- Responsibly Sourced Materials: most bookshelves are made primarily with wood. While natural, unsustainable wood sourcing can be a cause of deforestation, so we want to see that the wood was from responsibly managed forests or made from reclaimed or repurposed wood. Some bookshelves may feature metal, in which case recycled materials here are important.
- High Quality Construction: sustainability includes longevity — how long will you be able to use that furniture piece before it goes to the landfill and gets replaced? Look for transparency around craftsmanship and woodworking processes. Another sign of quality is the length of warranty a company has for its products.
- Ethically Made: this one is straightforward in theory — were the people making it paid fairly and working in safe conditions? — but is unfortunately not always easy to find information. In this category, I look for transparency in practices, what relationship the brand has with the manufacturer (some produce in-house which is the best case scenario for transparency!), where it was made, and how well the makers were paid.
Ideally a sustainable bookshelf would also be non-toxic — as toxic chemical fumes aren’t exactly sustainable! But this isn’t always the case. For example, if a company prioritizes upcycled materials, they don’t necessarily have control over what inputs were part of the original materials. And sometimes a company focuses more on ethical artisan partnerships and sustainable wood sourcing, more than, say, using non-toxic finishes.
But when it comes to non