Sustainability is a key component of modern furniture and design. More and more often, using sustainable, locally sourced, and reclaimed furniture is entering modern furniture trends. This year, it's one of the most important aspects of modern design!
Many companies are implementing regulations to ensure they are reducing waste and employ policies that reduce their carbon footprint. This includes in their furniture and design choices as well. There are a few steps you can take to ensure that you're choosing sustainable modern furniture and design for your home or business.
By taking some of these tips into consideration when looking for modern furniture, you can contribute to sustainability policies and ensure that you are minimizing your waste!
What Does “Sustainable” Mean?
Sustainability refers to the ability to maintain something at a certain rate. It has become an important concept for protecting our environment and lowering our impact on climate change. For something to be sustainable, it must be able to meet our needs without compromising the ability of people in the future to meet their needs.
Sustainability includes things like making sure to use renewable resources, using sources that can meet our and future needs, reducing waste, reducing pollution, and reclaiming and reusing materials.
Furniture is a great aspect where sustainability can be used because it fits into different facets of the concept easily. Ensuring that you're making sustainable choices when upgrading your furniture will contribute to helping our environment!
Wood Sources
When furniture is made of wood, knowing where it was sourced can be a good indicator of sustainability. Instead of clear-cutting and deforestation, choosing a furniture company that supports sustainable forests and reclaimed wood makes a big difference. Deforestation is an issue in a variety of industries, so ensuring that forests and trees are protected is important for the environment.
Wood furniture manufacturers who use sustainable wood are often governed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) which controls clear-cutting of forests and promotes good working conditions.
Material Sources and Production
What kind of material is your furniture made of? Is it natural? Is it made with harmful chemicals? Is it sustainable?
Using furniture with materials that are low in toxicity or made with renewable materials is important. Materials like wool, cotton, and leather, if from the proper sources, are renewable and sustainable. Artificial materials can also be sustainable and environmentally friendly if they are treated well and produced without harmful chemicals that the end user could ingest.
Longevity
One of the pillars of sustainability is the longevity of a product. Something is less sustainable if you have to replace it often. If you are able to keep a piece of modern furniture for decades, it is much more sustainable than a piece that you have to replace after five years.
Buying modern furniture that is built well and built to last will reduce your waste in long run, as you don't have to keep purchasing and replacing furniture. Buying high quality furniture is the best way to ensure its longevity.
Reclaimed Furniture
This is a growing trend in sustainable modern design! Using reclaimed furniture that has been made modern or given a refreshed aesthetic helps to eliminate furniture being simply throw away. Reupholstering, sanding, refinishing, or painting old, high quality furniture gives it new life and improves its longevity.
There are many specialty companies that offer reclaimed furniture, but with a little DIY, you can also do it yourself – easily, in most cases!
Maintenance Required
Also contributing to the longevity and sustainability of modern furniture is the maintenance required, or how well you can take care of it. Making purchasing decisions while understanding your lifestyle or the purpose of the furniture is key for ensuring it is a sustainable choice.
Ensure you choose a material that you are able to maintain yourself for a long time. For example, don't buy a wool sofa for use in a bar lounge where people will be spilling drinks on it. This means you will have to get it professionally cleaned more often, using more chemicals, damaging the fabric further, and sooner than later you will have to replace it.
Visit Our Catalogue for Modern Furniture
If you're looking for long lasting modern furniture that can contribute to sustainability goals in your home or business, sohoConcept can help. We provide furniture made from natural materials with production methods that help reduce waste. Whether you're looking for leather, wool, wood, or another material, sohoConcept can help!
Contact us today to learn more about our dedication to sustainable modern furniture. Our customer representatives can help you find the modern furniture and modern design that is perfect for your space!
Call us or visit our product catalogue today.