Sustainability In Design

Sustainable products often have at their heart earth-borne materials, sympathetically taken from nature’s offering and giving rise to designs that haven’t asked for unnecessary manufacturing or chemical processes. Favouring cotton velvets such as those used on De Le Cuona’s cushions and Linea Luxe’s occasional sofas will contribute greatly to a sustainable home. Similarly, Pinetti’s pioneering use of recycled vegetable-dyed leathers used to craft its basket and various other small home accessories is a planet-kind pathway that leads to a sustainable interior in a way that classic leathers simply could not. It is important to note that the story doesn’t quite end at choosing a natural material, but it is most certainly a sustainable step in a green direction.

This doesn’t mean to say that to support local business you should only purchase from makers residing in the same country as yourself, but to narrow your horizons and see what is available from workshops that would not need to freight your furniture so far. Or, should your piece be from a distant maker (perhaps because the materials used are grown locally to them or the skillset is one that is superior to that found elsewhere), look into whether their practices are kind to both planet and artisan. Take The Rug Company, as an example, which champions age-old Tibetan weaving with its sustainable programme to support the Nepalese economy.

Remember too that another factor to consider in finding the right eco-aware maker is not simply their locality but their production volumes. Small, independent brands typically produce much smaller volumes, which results in far less pressure on the planet. United in their passion to do good, our Conscious Collection and our Think Big, Shop Small initiative contain many of the same products as designers work closer to home.

Take green furniture designer and maker, Shepel. Their conscious use of materials and the ways in which to manipulate them have led to them realising sustainable seating that is as strong and everlasting as it is sublime. Favouring horsehair as its main wadding materials, it doesn’t absorb moisture, and is heralded for its ability to restore its original volume no matter the strength or durability of loading. The same applies for its choice of jute for webbing—a material that will live on and on.

A balance between physically being able to last for years of love and use and aesthetically withstanding the ebb and flow of interiors trends as brands chase the goal of timelessness, the planet’s plea is for us to buy slowly, thoughtfully, confidently and to foresee the long term. A commitment to consciousness—this is our promise.

Header image credit: Richard Brendon