AHFA Unveils Eco Label Program

November 13, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on November 2007 The American Home Furnishings Alliance unveiled an eco label program during its 2007 Annual Meeting in Charleston, S.C., last week. Called Sustainable by Design, the program will provide companies with a roadmap for implementing environmental policies and practices that lead to certification.

“Consumers’ attitudes toward ‘green’ products have moved from ‘tell me’ to ‘show me’ to, now, ‘prove it to me.’ It is no longer satisfactory to just market a product as ‘green.’ It must be demonstrated,” said Bill Perdue, AHFA’s vice president of environmental management, health, safety and standards. “So companies are faced with ‘verifying’ to the consumer that their implementation of sustainable business practices results in a meaningful ‘green’ product.”

The AHFA program is designed to facilitate continuous improvement by implementing sustainable business practices. It guides companies through measurable steps to reduce their environmental footprint at the manufacturing level and throughout their entire supply chain.

AHFA will develop a broad-based media outreach in 2008 to explain the program and generate editorial coverage that will help consumers understand and look for the Sustainable by Design logo. AHFA’s consumer Web site, http://www.findyourfurniture.com, will provide further support for the program, explaining the label’s significance for consumers and offering a list of companies that have earned certification.