Over the past couple of months I’ve taken a gander at a few sustainable outdoor seating/lounging options ranging from chairs, sofas, and eco-swings and hammocks. However, when it terms to delivering the green it looks like The National Trust, an organization that oversees the conservation of historic homes, gardens, and parks in the UK, can’t be beat.

 

To encourage Britons get off of their royal bums and spend more time in the great outdoors — a recent survey found that the average British family spends around 43 hours per week indoors, planted on a sofa, even in the summer — The National Trust has constructed a series of “open air sitting rooms” — complete with oversized (one is really big) davenports with accompanying coffee tables — from hay bales covered with “grass blankets” and placed them in outdoor venues around the UK. Good lord, talk about lawn furniture …

The campaign, dubbed “Sofa, so good,” has reached 12 spots across the UK from Osterley Park and House in London to Northern Ireland’s Rowallane Garden to Cambridgeshire’s Wimpole Hall (also home to a rather unique al fresco urinal situation). “Traveling” sofas can also be found around various town centers throughout the summer.

 

Here’s what the National Trust has to say about the project:

 

It's a fantastic, undeniably photo-worthy concept (I imagine more than a few British families will be using the sofas as props for this year’s holiday card) that I hope gets the attention it deserves — I know how attached folks, at least folks on this side of the pond, can get to central air, gaming systems, and daytime TV. Would the allure of a giant, grass-covered sofa placed outdoors be enough to tear you away from your living room for an afternoon? 

 

Via [Co.Design]