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What Makes Southeast Asia a Top Source for Sustainable Home Decor Materials?
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Jul 11, 2025
In a world where climate change, deforestation, and environmental degradation are daily headlines, design has a new mandate: it must be beautiful, functional, and sustainable. At Mondoro, we believe the future of home decor lies at the intersection of thoughtful design and ethical sourcing. Our commitment begins in Southeast Asia, where we collaborate with artisans and producers to source eco-friendly materials that benefit both the planet and local communities. Click here to read more about Sourcing Sustainable Materials in Southeast Asia for Home Decor (https://mondoro.com/sourcing-sustainable-materials-in-southeast-asia-for-home-decor/) and listen to the #GlobalTradeGal podcast to hear how materials like bamboo, water hyacinth, and recycled metals are shaping sustainable design. #SustainableDesign #EcoFriendlyLiving #HomeDecorTrends #ConsciousConsumer #GreenInteriors #SoutheastAsiaSourcing #EthicalManufacturing #MondoroDesign Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/globaltradegal)
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Hi, this is Anita, the global trade gal.
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Today we're going to talk a little bit
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about sustainability. You know,
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sustainability seems to be the buzzword
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which is going on a lot. As people look
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at things like climate change, resource
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depletion,
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they look think about ethical living,
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sustainability becomes one of those
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words that a lot of people think about
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and wonder how can I have a more
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sustainable life or buy more sustainable
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products.
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I want to first define what we consider
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to be sustainability because for
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sustainability we look at both the
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science and craftsmanship. We focus on
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materials that will renew quickly,
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reduce waste, and enhance the natural
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beauty of an interior space. So, here
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are some of the materials that we like.
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Here are seven sustainable materials
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that we consider to be sustainable
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materials for home decor.
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The first one, of course, is bamboo.
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Bamboo is an amazing plant. In fact, it
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is a plant that grows very fast and so
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it's considered to be the fastest
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growing plant on Earth with some species
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growing up to meter per day. It
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regenerates naturally without the need
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of pesticides or heavy irrigation. We
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love bamboo. We love bamboo for its
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strength, for its lightness, its
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flexibility, actually for its natural
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look, too. We use bamboo in a lot of
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different ways. There's things from
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there's villages outside of Hanoi that
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do spun bamboo which basically they they
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put the bamboo into strips and then they
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sort of spin it around. They make bowls
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and other types of objects out of it. Uh
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we like bamboo for furniture bases, for
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lighting, for lamps, for mirrors. We
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sometimes take the bamboo and we burn
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the bamboo which means that we put sort
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of a color on the bamboo and it kind of
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gives it sort of this warm type of hue.
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We love bamboo because bamboo is just a
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great material. Of course, it's limited
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because bamboo is so strong and it's
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straight. It doesn't bend, so it needs
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to be cut and joined together. But
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bamboo or it can be, you know, made into
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strips where it can be woven into
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baskets and other things. But we still
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consider bamboo to be a great material
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and a great sustainable material.
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Another material that we love is
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recycled wood. We do things out of
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recycled pine. We love recycled wood.
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Yes, recycled wood has its problems.
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It's been used, so there could be nail
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holes in it and other things, but we
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really feel like recycled wood is a
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great look. It's an innovative,
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sustainable way to reduce waste and and
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not just using like just timber and
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cutting down trees. It's about using
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things that reclaimed from buildings,
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from boats, from industrial structures,
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and it gives new life to this material.
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Not everyone's able to work in recycled
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wood because it can be kind of messy to
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work in. It has to be a factory that's
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willing to put the wood together to be
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able to take out the nails and the other
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type of structures, maybe fill some
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holes and other things. But one of the
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beauties of recycled wood or using
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recycled timber is that each piece of
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furniture, each piece that is being used
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has its own unique sort of look to it.
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because no two pieces would be the same
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exactly the same because they would all
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have different woods that have been used
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and aged at different times. Water
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hyestin is another great plant that can
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be used for furniture, lamps, mirrors,
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and other types of accessories. It was
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once considered to be a very invasive
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plant. This is an example of a plant
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that for many, many years nobody liked
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it. It would choke the rivers and lakes
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along Southeast Asia. However, you know,
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they began to discover that when they
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harvested it and it was, you know, dried
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correctly, it became a strong pliable
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fiber that was perfect for weaving. You
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know, water hyasin is something that can
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actually be dyed. It could be painted.
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It, you know, so it really has many
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different types of colors and finishes
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on it. It also gives the ability to
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remove the invasive species in the
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waterways. It doesn't choke up the
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waterways anymore. It's sort of a
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win-win for everybody with the water
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hyasin. Water hyasin really is a great
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natural look. Rattan is another material
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that's considered sustainable because of
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the fact that it it grows so fast and it
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grows in the rainforest again of
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Southeast Asia. Unlike trees, it you
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know regenerates quickly and it doesn't
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require you know cutting down the whole
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plant to harvest. So this really makes
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it a a very sustainable type of
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material. Its strength uh flexibility is
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ideal for furniture and decorative
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accessories. You can use it in chairs.
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You can use it in light fixtures and you
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can use it in all different types of you
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know natural finishes and and other
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things. Retan really is another great
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type of material to use. Wood that has
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FSC certified wood it, you know, that's
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wood that verifies sustainability. FSC
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certified usually the more expensive
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type of wood because they have to go
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through the verification process. But
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that of course also shows that the wood
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has been cut down in a sustainable way
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and that you are then protecting the
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environment. Recyclable metals is
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another one. You know like aluminum.
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You've seen some aluminum, iron, brass
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that's been recycled and been reused
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again. And this is a great way to be
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able to use those metals. It can be used
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in things from lighting. It can be used
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for mirrors. It can be used for
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decorative hardware. That again is a
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great way to be able to use these
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materials. There's some really good fast
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growing woods that can have a bit of
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sustainability to them. You know, woods
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like acasia, rubber wood, mango wood are
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often byproducts of other industries.
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So, you know, use them can add some
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value. In fact, rubber wood for many
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years was just just burnt because they
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didn't know how to use the wood, how to
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take the rubber extract out of it. And
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this is an example now of a wood that's
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considered a very good wood and it's
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considered sustainable because before it
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was just it was just wood that just went
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to waste as is you know mango wood too.
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You know at Muro we really try to be as
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sustainable as we can be and we really
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believe in sustainability.
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You know our approach is to do you know
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to have an ethical sourcing is to be
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across Southeast Asia to look at look at
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ways we can be have ethical sourcing in
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all that we do. We look at waste
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reduction in our practices because waste
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is one of the ways that that you can
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actually be able to ensure to, you know,
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add more sustainability to make sure you
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limit your waste. We use non-toxic
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finishes and adhesives and we use, you
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know, ongoing research to look at ways
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for sustainability. If you're
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interested, be able to discover and
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learn more in this, we've written a blog
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post on this. What are the best
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sustainable materials for home decor?
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And in there, we show some of the home
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decor products that we actually do, too.
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We we actually show you know some of
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these products and how these products
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are used. You know sustainability is
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really you know a great thing. You might
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ask well what makes a material
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sustainable? You know materials
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considered sustainable if it's
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renewable, has a low environmental
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impact and is harvested or produced
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ethically. That really is the definition
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of sustainability. So that's why in this
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list we include things such as bamboo uh
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ratan
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water hyasin
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because they all fit that description.
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They have a the renewable like for
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example bamboo will quickly regrow
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itself. It has a low environmental
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impact
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and is harvest or produced ethically.
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You know that's why bamboo is considered
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to be eco-friendly.
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You know, bamboo too. It uses little
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water and can be harvested without
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killing the plant. And you might ask,
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well, what is FSC certified wood? This
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is a certification that ensures the wood
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products come from far forests that are
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managed to meet strict environmental,
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social, and economic standards. That is
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what it means if you ask for FSC
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certified wood. So, we hope that you'll
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read our blog post on this that you will
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want to be able to learn more about
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sustainability. Sustainability seems to
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be sort of like the key word now for the
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future, a key word going on now where a
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lot of people are talking about how can
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we be more sustainable or live a more
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sustainable life.
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This is Anita from Global Trade Gal.
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Thank you so much for being part of our
8:42
community. We hope that you will press
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the subscribe button if you have not
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already and that you will join with us.
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Thank you so much.
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