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Today's Guest: Jackie Hirschaut of The American Home Furnishings Alliance in High Point, North Carolina
Today's Host: John Bentley

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ANNOUNCER:  Welcome to Urban Diversions Radio brought to you by Urban Diversions Fine Furnishings, Antiques, and Architectural Elements of Traverse City and now here's your host, John Bentley.

JOHN:  Today on Urban Diversions Radio we have president and designer, Jackie Hirschaut.  She is the vice president of public of relations and marketing for American Home Furnishings Alliance.  Now Jackie and AHFA is the world's largest and most active trade association solely dedicated to the advancement of the United States furniture industry.  The American Home Furnishings Alliance has served as the premier authority on information related to furniture in the United States and Jackie is one of the nation's leading experts on the furniture industry.  Welcome back to the program, Jackie.  This is interview number 2 with you isn't it?

JACKIE:  Hi, John, it's great to talk to you again.

JOHN:  Well we enjoyed your first interview with us and today we want to talk a little bit more about the green aspect of the furniture industry.  First thing I wanted to ask you is the consumers are overloaded with advertising and information about the impact of goods and services on the environment.  What is the AHFA's position on that, and where are they going with it in the future?

JACKIE:  Well what we've learned is that green is the new beige around here.  Green home furnishings and just green lifestyle has become a really hot button on the forefront of both consumers and business owners.  And so what we've done is try to respond in a variety of ways to try to help our member companies who are the leading manufacturers who are producing products that will go into homes throughout the country to do two things.  One we're helping them identify ways to create more environmentally friendly furnishings products at the same time we're giving them guidelines on how they can take a really hard look at their own manufacturing operations and their businesses to see how they can be a more environmentally responsible business.

JOHN:  Now what exactly is sustainability and reduced carbon foot print and why is that so important to the furnishing industry?

JACKIE:  Well the carbon foot print is the measure of the impact that all of our activities have on environment.  We've really come to focus on this as we realize we want to be cognizant of how much energy we're using, the types of resources that we're using to make sure that our world is a place for our children and our grand children and many more generations to come to live happily in the future.  Where sustainability comes in is that it is an awareness of attempting to choose ingredients for our home furnishings products that are renewable, meaning for example, the most obvious is wood.  Wood grows and replenishes and if harvested correctly will be a lifelong component of an unlimited number of furniture products in years to come.  So with this whole appreciation for sustainability and environmental foot print, we're looking at things like making sure that this whole appreciate for environmental affairs were making sure that all of the government and regulatory compliances are in shape.  We want to make sure that we're managing our resources and raw materials in the absolute best way that we can.  We want to reduce our energy and water consumption.  We want to reduce our waste disposal and the costs that are associated with that, and last but not least, we want to improve the overall operational performance and efficiency of our factories so that both the employees and the products that are made there are the best that they can be.

JOHN:  Ok,  now Jackie, there is something called the Sage Awards.  Could you tell our listening audience a little bit about that?

JACKIE:  Yeah.  Our Sage Award is actually going to be unveiled for the very first time next week in Greensboro, North Carolina, where we have invited a cross section of folks from across the industry.  Retailers, manufacturers, suppliers, and have invited them to share their sustainability and environmental projects and perspectives with us, and we are going to be calling attention to fourteen companies who have stepped forward with just incredible stories and then having three finalists and then a grand winner that will receive a $2500 check to be given to the charity of their choice.

JACKIE:  The award is going to be presented on Thursday, November 13th, at about 6:00 p.m. at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Proximity is the nation's first  platinum lead certified hotel.

JOHN:  We're going to take a break here on Urban Diversions Radio, and we'll be right back with Jackie Hirschaut, vice president of public of relations and marketing for American Home Furnishings Alliance.

ANNOUNCER:  Urban Diversions of Traverse City is your source for fine furnishings, antiques, and architectural elements.  With 45 years of experience and award winning designs, Urban Diversions creates beautiful limited edition furniture that is made in the U.S. and built to stand the test of time.  For more information on Urban Diversions Fine Furnishings please visit them on the web at www.urban-diversion.com or call (231) 946-6600.  Urban Diversions Fine Furnishings.

ANNOUNCER:  VTALK RADIO.

ANNOUNCER:  We now return you to Urban Diversions Radio with your host, John Bentley.

JOHN:  Welcome back to Urban Diversions Radio.  We are in the studio via telephone with Jackie Hirschaut.  She is the vice president of public of relations and marketing for the American Home Furnishings Alliance.  Welcome back to the program, Jackie.

JACKIE:  Hi John.

JOHN:  Now we've been talking about a lot; environmentally eco friendly construction of furniture.  I have heard the term green washing tossed around.  Can you tell me a little bit about green washing?  What is that?

JACKIE:  Well green washing is a term that has been given to what I would kind of call some of the propaganda type of communication that is being circulated related to environmentally eco-conscious products and services, and I think what I think is kind of a consumer beware kind of message that we want to put out just making sure that as you learn more and more about eco friendly products and services that you just keep your eyes open, be level headed, try to ascertain that the information being provided to you is truthful.  It's as simple as that.

JOHN:  Now do you have any examples of how the industry is changing to meet the consumers' demand to create products that are better for the environment?

JACKIE:  Oh, no question.  We're seeing a couple of trends here.  First off we're seeing a lot of, well not a lot, but certainly more than in previous years, use of recycled materials.  This has become really prevalent particularly with wood where, you know, a tree stump and roots that may have been submerged for goodness knows how many years, are being rescued from their natural environment, dried out, and are being carved and fashioned into really beautiful furnishings.  We are essentially taking materials that would otherwise, be considered a waste product or an unwanted product and finding new value in it.  There's a really fabulous new innovation that's coming on stream in the upholstery industry and that is a product that's used for cushion stuffing that's made out of recycled spun water bottles and drink bottles.   If you take umpteen million of them, you can break them down into fiber that almost...it's really light.  It's almost like what your fill in your bed pillows might be and it is a fabulous way to take all of that material and recycle it into a really purposeful way.

JOHN:  Now let's talk a little bit about Dale Campbell and some of his products.  Now he is the 2006 winner of the Pinnacle Design Achievement Award, and he has designed furniture from reclaimed wood and soy based cushions. 

JACKIE:  What he's doing is really cutting edge in that, you know, he's on the forefront of finding wood that is either that is available in old buildings or in other kind of expired uses and repurposing it into furniture that's perfect for today's homes.  He's also taking advantage of one of the newest technological advancements and that is soy based cushions.  So that instead of having petroleum based foam that fills particularly the seat cushions, there is a newer product that has soy that's used as the lead component that is certainly, obviously a greener more eco friendly substance to use as a component.  I think he's also putting a lot of attention into the upholstery covers.  His wife, Teresa, is fabulous in helping him identify the best cover treatments for their seating, and I think they're paying attention to natural fibers, a lot of cottons and wools and silks.  All components that, again, have that 100% natural element to them.

JOHN:  Now, Jackie, the soy based cushions, how do they compare to the old petroleum based ones?

JACKIE:  You would have to be really very sensitive probably to be able to tell the difference, because the performance is just as good, but the big story is the environmental angle that is just so much more positive.

JOHN:  Well, Jackie, owe certainly appreciate you joining us again on Urban Diversions Radio.  Now I understand you have a couple of different websites people can go to for information on these subjects?

JACKIE:  Sure.  If you're shopping furniture and you want to get some ideas before you head out to the stores, because consumers that don't have the advantage that I do in seeing all the furniture that's being introduced among 300 companies, would have no idea of how many terrific pieces are really just waiting to be discovered.  So if you to www.findyourfurniture.com, you'll be able to punch in either a room that you're trying to decorate, maybe a particular piece of furniture that you're trying to shop for, or a style, and the website will send you on a journey and put lots of pictures in front of you of some of the newest and most popular things that would really make your house the perfect home.

JACKIE Yeah, for those of you interested more in the business side of the furniture industry, please take a look at www.ahfa.us.

JOHN:  We've been speaking with Jackie Hirschaut. She is vice president of public of relations and marketing for American Home Furnishings Alliance, and you've been listening to Urban Diversions Radio.  Thanks for tuning in.  Everyone have a great afternoon.

ANNOUNCER:  You have been listening to Urban Diversions Radio at www.urban-diversions.com.  Urban Diversions radio is powered by VTalk Radio and Vertio.net.  Talk radio for the 21st century.

 

 

 

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