American Leather

Evaluation Completed: 
February 14, 2025
Bedroom
Furniture
Adults
Moving
Office

We were interested to learn more about American Leather after seeing them pop up as an “eco-friendly” furniture recommendation on another site. After researching the ingredient safety and sustainability information available from the company, we’re not sure we agree with the recommendation. The company is smart to steer clear of chemical flame retardants in their furniture. But we didn’t find much else to indicate that the brand is credibly pursuing many other issues relevant to ingredient safety and sustainability.

Hilde Status:

Avoid

Consider

Recommended

We try to avoid purchasing or using products made by this company or their brands in our homes.
We may decide to purchase or use products made by this company or their brands in our homes when other options are not accessible.
Hilde Ratings
Topic
Rating
Ingredient Safety
Environmental impact
People Benefits
Governance
Hilde Approved Certifications
No Hilde approved certifications included
Hilde Likes

Emphasis on known chemicals of high concern

Opportunities for Improvement

Improving producer responsibility

Verification of environmental impact reduction efforts

Providing public disclosure and reporting

Establishing programs to address environmental impacts

Filling gaps on people impacts

Establishing good governance practices

Adopting a comprehensive approach to ingredient safety

Additional Information
Parent Company:
None
Owned Brands:
None
Product Types:
Sleeper sofas, recliners, sofas, sectionals, ottomans, bed frames, accent chairs

Evaluation Summary

Basic
Advanced
Leadership
Foundational Gaps

The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.

Solid Baseline

The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.

Strong Performance:

The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.

Hilde Likes

Emphasis on known chemicals of high concern

A focus on limiting known chemicals of concern helps reduce everyday exposures and provides a safer alternative for families

Opportunities for Improvement

Adopting a comprehensive approach to ingredient safety

We would like to see this brand adopt a precautionary safer chemicals policy, use a publicly available Restricted Substances List, address sources of contaminants, and use laboratory testing to ensure purity and assess compliance

Foundational Gaps

The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.

Solid Baseline

The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.

Strong Performance:

The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.

Hilde Likes
None Identified
Opportunities for Improvement

Establishing programs to address environmental impacts

We think this company should establish credible efforts to measure and disclose their environmental impacts and create time bound goals to improve performance

Improving producer responsibility

Given the hard to recycle nature of many kinds of the products this company makes and sells we would like to see this company provide a manufacturer takeback or recovery program

Verification of environmental impact reduction efforts

This company should start using or expand their use of high-quality certifications related to strengthen their claims related to environmental impact reduction

Foundational Gaps

The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.

Solid Baseline

The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.

Strong Performance:

The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.

Hilde Likes
None Identified
Opportunities for Improvement

Filling gaps on people impacts

We believe this company should put credible efforts in place to ensure that their employees are treated fairly, that human rights are protected for people in their supply chain, raw materials are sourced responsibly, and publicly share info about their work

Foundational Gaps

The company does not meet sufficient baseline criteria for this category and has many opportunities for improvement.

Solid Baseline

The company meets most of our basic criteria and sometimes demonstrates a deeper commitment than other companies on issues in this category.

Strong Performance:

The company appears to be a top performer in this evaluation category and exhibits leadership on one or more of the issues we evaluate.

Hilde Likes
None Identified
Opportunities for Improvement

Providing public disclosure and reporting

We think this company should start publishing regular annual reports on sustainability or ESG topics for consumers or other stakeholders as well as maintaining a publicly available archive of past reports

Establishing good governance practices

We think this company should establish the ability to effectively integrate sustainability into the business model, decision making, and accountability and disclose those practices publicly

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