Eco-Friendly Furniture Brands to Spruce Up Your Outdoor Space

After launching a test pop-up in Minneapolis in 2018 and selling out of $1 million in inventory in only a month, the team behind Yardbird knew they were onto something. The sustainable outdoor furniture brand has a Restoration Hardware look with a twist: Wicker pieces from dining sets to chaise lounges are made with intercepted ocean plastic collected from beaches and waterways in the Philippines (this year alone, the company will use more than 200,000 pounds of it in its outdoor furniture). Prefer a wood look? Yardbird’s newest collection, the Winnie, is made with weather-resistant teak.

This custom furnishings company is the first to produce furniture 3-D printed from agricultural byproducts, such as corn husks or beetroot. Not only does Model No. repurpose materials that would have otherwise gone to waste, but it also minimizes carbon emissions — and the result is free of toxic chemicals and safe for both your family and the environment. The brand’s first outdoor collection includes two chair styles, a side table, and a gorgeous wood dining table that includes a removable center channel to stash your favorite canned cocktails or plants.

Manufactured in LaGrange, Georgia, eco-friendly tiled area rugs from FLOR are the perfect way to brighten up your enclosed or covered patio space. Thanks to a “return and recycle” program (in which you can send rug tiles back to be made into new ones), FLOR has kept millions of pounds of carpet out of landfills each year. Beyond the feel-good story, these rugs are lovable for their subtle, woven textures similar to Jute. Natural-hued rugs unify an outdoor living space nicely, while more colorful iterations add a pop of brightness to any patio.

One easy way to be easier on the environment when you shop is to buy secondhand. Enter AptDeco, an online marketplace that sells unique pre-owned furniture, including outdoor pieces, from top brands like Pottery Barn and Roche Bobois. This shop is perfect for anyone who prefers a more eclectic look — you may not be able to find a set of eight matching chairs, but you might score a hanging outdoor egg chair for way less than what it would cost you to buy brand new. To date, AptDeco has sold enough secondhand furniture to equal taking 350 million cars off the road or planing 762,000 trees. 

Recycled plastics like single-use milk jugs are manufactured into durable outdoor furniture at Loll Designs, a Duluth, Minnesota-based company that’s been diverting post-consumer plastic from landfills since 2007. Decidedly modern pieces from rocking chairs to swings to dining sets add major style to any deck or patio, and the company makes equally fashionable planters to match. Adding to the appeal? The nonporous material of Loll furniture means it won’t collect dirt, and they’re specially formulated to resist fading (so bring on the sun!).

All-weather Polywood furniture, made from recycled high-density polyethylene, is built to last through the most extreme conditions, from hot sun to freezing snow. And you’d never guess each piece was once a shampoo bottle or a detergent container; the expansive collection of outdoor lounge sets, dining furniture, Adirondack chairs, glider benches, and more have a classic look and come in a variety of neutral colors to match any backyard. The impact is even more incredible: Polywood as a brand recycles more than 400,000 landfill- and ocean-bound plastic containers in-house daily.