"Green furniture" demand on the rise

CEBU, Philippines - Furniture icon Kenneth Cobonpue said taking advantage of the increasing preference for “green furniture” or eco-friendly products in the world could be Cebu’s strongest shield to survive the crisis and sustain its marketability.

Cobonpue added that if it is still tough to market “green furniture” as a sub-brand for Cebu furniture, individual companies should start initiating a strong campaign to take advantage of this opportunity window, after all Cebu has been known as one of the largest producers of eco-friendly home furnishing products in the world.

“We are eco-friendly already, even before it became a trend,” said Cobonpue suggesting that furniture companies should capitalize on this niche in order to stay in the business especially in these challenging times for the furniture industry.

 Cobonpue, who is the president of Interior Crafts of the Islands Inc., is one of the world’s famous furniture designers, whose creations have gained attention from the elusive “Hollywood” market, and other discriminating, wealthy consumers across the globe.

Producing eco-friendly furniture is also a cost-wise strategy as the Philippines has ample supply of indigenous raw materials, and recycled components that can be manipulated and turned into a world-class furniture product.

However, despite the growing demand for "green" products in the world market, some furniture exporters here are still not keen on pushing an industry-wide campaign to join the popular "Green Brand" trend.

Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) vice president Charles Estreegan said that joining the "green revolution" this time is not an industry-wide effort, although some companies are working to shift to full "Green" manufacturing system.

"We have to be careful in labeling our products 'green'. We need the right foundations first because when you say it's a 'green' product, you have to address the entire supply chain and not just the end-result," he said.

 However, he said that CFIF as a support organization of furniture makers, has been advocating its member-companies on proper environment management system in the last five years.

Awareness now in the global front on the global warming situation, have prompted environmental activists to launch a series of global campaigns to convince the worldwide consumer market to highly patronize products that are produced via "Green Operation" or full environment conscious--manufacturing system.

CFIF being the mouthpiece of the industry believes branding their products "green" mean "calculating the entire ecological backpack from its inception, birth, death, and rebirth, which is through the recycling of waste materials."

CFIF, together with European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) is currently undergoing a joint-program called “Materials Manipulation” or materials research and development (R&D).