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PORTLAND, Ore – Porter Designs’ ‘The Good Earth’ collection is the company’s latest effort to bring sustainable furniture to mid-level price points, an area where the company believes it can make the most difference in the marketplace.

The company already partners with Earthworm Foundation, having planted more than 10,000 tree saplings in Haryana, India in 2021 alone, which adds to India’s forest cover and helps farmers restore biodiversity on farms. Its Caravan collection also is made with solid sheesham, mango and acacia harvested from sustainable plantations in India.

The Santorini groups shown here is part of Porter Designs’ The Good Earth collection.

The Good Earth takes a sustainable approach with upholstery. It began when the company connected with a Mexico manufacturer that was already using a mix of recycled materials for everything from the foam and fiber to the fiberboard for frames of sofas, loveseats and sectionals. Even the cardboard the manufacturer used  to ship the goods is made from recycled materials.

Now Porter Designs is offering upholstery that uses fabrics featuring fibers created from plastic films pulled from the  ocean that present a danger to wildlife from turtles to seagulls. These plastics are melted to form chips, then pellets and ultimately fibers that are woven into fabric.

As company President David Weiss explains, it was a partnership that captivated him from the start.

“I just really lit up about it,” he told Home News Now. “Whether it is changing the earth or whether it’s just making a difference, whatever it is, it triggered me like I haven’t been triggered in a long time. Especially pulling plastic out of the ocean. I think that’s important. It really upsets me when you see these islands of plastic floating in the ocean and the effects on birds and fish.” 

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The full article can be found here.