Sustainability stories
Bamboo-based leather alternatives
Stories that inspire our path to a better world
The Eames Lounge and Ottoman is not only one of Herman Miller’s most iconic products, and one of the most recognizable of the 21st century, but a prime example of our commitment to continuously revisiting and iterating on the materials we use to make sure they’re as healthy for the planet as possible.
The latest is the result of roughly a decade of work in the name of a more sustainable alternative to traditional leather. Mushrooms. Cacti. Apple skin. They read like the contents of a compost bin, but at MillerKnoll, they’re the materials our team tested as a leather alternative before landing on bamboo, which is available on the Eames Lounge as of 2024.
Bamboo is soft and durable—and, as one of the world’s most sustainable resources due to its rapid, continual growth, higher CO2 absorption rate, and the fact that it uses only one-third of the water required by other plants, it’s reduced the chair’s materials carbon footprint by 35 percent.
This wasn’t the first material update to the Eames Lounge. In 1990, it became clear to our then research manager Bill Foley that the Brazilian rosewood used in the original shell design wasn’t sustainable. We pivoted first to walnut and cherry, and eventually landed on santos palisander, which is a rosewood look-alike with much more sustainable qualities. We think Charles and Ray would approve of every last effort to make their one-of-a-kind products better for the planet.
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Ocean-bound plastic
Our Herman Miller brand has already diverted 300 metric tons of plastic waste from the ocean through May 2023.
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