Eco-Friendly Furniture by Jim Parks on Creators.com

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Eco-Friendly Furniture

As the country looks for ways to break its addiction to petrochemicals, one innovative manufacturer in North Carolina has discovered that furniture — chairs, sofas and mattresses — can be made far more eco-friendly. Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co. produces springs and hardware out of recycled steel and webbing from recycled yarn, but their big story is the foam they're putting inside the cushions. Instead of making it from the non-renewable petrochemicals that have been the standard for years, they've figured out how to make foam from a renewable soy-based formula.

They call this eco-friendly foam "Preserve."

A major furniture builder, Craftmaster, has decided to utilize Hickory's Preserve in its entire range of upholstered furniture. Craftmaster tested seat cushions made from the soy-based Preserve against petroleum-based foams; they were delighted to discover that the eco-friendly material performed better than the old materials.

Questions can be sent to Jim Parks at jrparks@mac.com. To find out more about Jim Parks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.