Earn rewards for donating old furniture to ReStores

If you're planning to make a donation of furniture to a Habitat ReStore in the Charlotte area, take time first to learn about a new donor rewards program.
On the second Saturday of each month, ReStore furniture donors can earn credits, called Positive Impact Points, for making sure their items did not go to a landfill.
The PIP Rewards program is open to ReStore customers through the Edenton-based Sustainable Furnishings Council's new Sustainable Saturdays program.
The council has a goal of diverting 10 tons of furniture from landfills in 2014. Those nearly 10 million tons of furniture are dumped at landfills each year, the council reports, citing EPA data.
Formed in High Point in 2006, the council is an education and marketing organization that promotes “green” practices and products in the furniture industry.
Donors can use PIP rewards points for “positive impact” goods and services.
This might include products that are considered healthy or responsibly produced. The points also can be used to support projects aimed at protecting the environment, fighting poverty or doing good in other areas.
The rewards program is the first of many Sustainable Saturday programs the council expects to launch, says executive director Susan Inglis.
Sign up for PIP rewards at https://pipsrewards.com. Get updates on Twitter using the hashtag #SustainableSaturdays.

Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms

Duck Dynasty furniture line coming to Charlotte

It doesn’t stop with camouflage shirts, pants and hats. If you like those, the shuffle over to a pillowy recliner or sofa in huntsman-themed upholstery could be pretty natural.

That was the thinking behind Jackson Furniture Industries’ launch of a new Duck Dynasty collection at the fall market in High Point.

And who better to be the face of the brand than the camouflage-wearing, duck-calling Robertson clan whose reality show the collection is named for?

 “Duck Dynasty” brought the A&E network to the top of the TV charts last season with more than 10 million average viewers. Recliners and sofas are a big part of their simple, family-focused home life.
Someone seemed to be talking about the collection wherever I went at fall market. The reviews were mixed: Some thought the collection quacked. A few women just didn’t get it. Others thought the Robinson family look-alikes, posters and cutouts at Jackson’s showroom launch were good entertainment.

Fortunes have been built on lesser ideas, and Jackson’s team and a sister company, Catnapper, has worked out deals to put their mallard prints and similar lodge looks in more than 1,000 retail showrooms nationally. Shipping begins Jan. 1.

“I’m not sure the appeal would be (there) for the design-oriented female,” said Greg Van Pelt, chief operating officer at Next Generation Interiors of Bakers, a Cramerton retailer that will carry the line. “I think it will be hot for the sportsman who has a room that he wants to label with his identity.”

Also look for the collection at Kimbrells Furniture, Factory World Outlet in Waxhaw and Tindall Furniture in Pineville. And you can also see it here.

Camouflage and sportsman themes have been creeping into the furniture industry for about eight years. The Duck Dynasty collection creates more of a designer-label brand, said Anthony Teague, who handles sales and merchandising for Jackson.

“A lot of times we see apparel trends transfer to the furniture industry,” said Anthony Teague, who handles sales and merchandising for Jackson. “You see so much camouflage in the Southeast ... to see that spill over into the living room is not surprising.”

Sullivan: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com and @sullivan_obs on Twitter