Tim Zyto’s sofas now carbon neutral

Tim’s company, Montauk, which manufactures high-quality sofas for an exclusive clientele, has become the first Canadian manufacturer to use the services of The Carbon Neutral Co. Carbon Neutral evaluates the environmental impact of a company’s business. Tim learned that his Montreal-based company, which employs 25 people, has an environmental impact that results in the creation—directly or indirectly—of 1,600 tonnes of carbon per year, through manufacturing, shipping and related activities.

Confronted with the growing global threat of man-made climate change, Tim reportedly decided a year ago to make his company “carbon-neutral.” The Carbon Neutral Co. not only measures a company’s environmental impact, but helps find ways to reduce it. Adopting energy-efficient technology can only go so far, so Tim has chosen to offset his company’s environmental impact by investing between $32,000 and $40,000 per year in a reforestation project in Uganda and a program in Pennsylvania to recapture methane gas.

Tim learned the furniture manufacturing business from his father, starting Montauk as a one-man operation in 1992. With stores in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and New York, he now caters to clients like Brooke Shields, Mark Wahlberg and Jackie Chan.

But you don’t have to be in movies to buy a Montauk sofa. They are also popular with environmentalists who are also television stars, such as David Suzuki.