In the next part of our ongoing sustainable series, we take a look at the latest update from online furniture retailer Furniture And Choice.
Furniture And Choice
“Our sustainability journey started from our first day of business, when we committed to using only timber from managed forests that prevent deforestation,” the company said. “Being a bigger company today means we’re now able to do more. In our next chapter, there’s a lot for us to be excited about – mainly, our new innovative materials that are cruelty-free and made with fewer chemicals.”
Sustainable Wood
Furniture And Choice has been using sustainably sourced wood from the very beginning since their launch back in 2005 – as highlighted above. The timber comes from managed forests, which adheres to strict guidelines to prevent deforestation. All their wood products (like sofa frames, and wooden dining tables and chairs) meet European Timber Regulation (EUTR) standards and they’ve gone beyond this with a commitment to use managed plantation timber exclusively.
“We use as much of the plantation timber as possible to reduce wastage of the raw material,” the business said. “The sustainable solid wood types that we use in our furniture include acacia, poplar and rubberwood. The MDF we use comes from rubberwood and utilises nearly all of the timber, while oak veneer is made from thinly slicing the timber of the oak tree and uses less wood to produce the same look as solid wood furniture, making it a sustainable option.”
Faux Leather
The company has also developed their faux leather to have the same “buttery softness and durability” as real leather, without needing any special cleaning or care. “All our faux leathers are tested to a minimum 100,000 rub counts on the Martindale scale, an industry standard that measures a fabric’s durability,” the retailer continued. “The higher the rub count, the more resistant the material is to wear and tear. In comparison, the average material for domestic use is tested to 25,000-30,000 rub counts.
“We’ve also made significant progress with our new range of innovative faux leathers, made without harmful solvents used in traditional processes. Tested to 150,000 Martindale rub counts, they’re better for the planet, better quality and have an even better feel. We aim to fully transition to solvent-free faux leathers by end-2024.”
Fabrics from Recycled Materials
Furniture And Choice says that they are being different to other furniture companies in the UK, which still rely on virgin plastics as a raw material. They think that new recycled plastics can be a better choice as they are durable, reduce the need for more, new oil-based materials and divert virgin plastics from landfills. For that reason, they’ve started to replace virgin plastics with recycled materials in their fabrics, wherever possible. “The backing materials aren’t yet available in any recycled form in the market – as soon as they are, we’ll use them in our products,” they said. “Our recycled fabrics are independently certified by the Global Recycle Standard (GRS) and rigorously tested for everyday use. Our goal is to fully transition to recycled fabrics by end-2024.”
Product Packaging & Recycling
Packaging is another important part of the business, with products packed in cartons made from recyclable cardboard and with recycled plastic bags where possible. The team are also busy searching for alternative packaging methods to decrease their one-time use of packaging materials. To date, Furniture And Choice has moved 100% to recycled cardboard, as well as most of its cartons are made with 100% recycled cardboard verified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
“Our goal is to use fully recycled cartons across all our product ranges by end-2024,” they said, continuing: “We’re removing all unnecessary plastics and have started switching out virgin plastics with recycled and we use 100% recycled plastic bags where possible, at a minimum they’re 30% recycled. Our biggest challenge is removing polystyrene as there are currently no viable alternatives, but we continue looking for possible solutions such as investing in mycelium packaging.”
Furthermore, the company has a Recycle or Donate Tool to dispose of old furniture products legally and sustainably. This online tool maps over 700 furniture recycling and donation centres across the UK to help customers find their nearest centre.
Tree for Customers
To help tackle climate change, a portion of Furniture And Choice’s proceeds goes to planting trees. So far, the business has planted 139,060 trees and has lofty ambitions to grow this initiative. “Our goal is to plant 500,000 trees,” the company said. “We started planting trees with Ecologi and we’re continuing to offset our carbon footprint by teaming up with Treeapp, a UK-based B Corp Certified company that plants trees to offset carbon around the world. They’ve planted over 2.4 million trees worldwide in 2023 and are planning to double their impact over the next year. It’s great to be a part of this scheme.”
Eco in the Workplace
At Furniture And Choice, none of their waste goes to landfills. Their warehouses separate plastic and cardboard from its product packaging and send it to recycling centres. And in the office, they separate cardboard, paper and aluminium for recycling, and send waste to a local power station to use as fuel. The company also participates in the Cycle to Work scheme.
“Our responsibility to the environment includes being compliant with the Consumer Information Obligation. In order to meet this, we provide information detailing recycling advice and guidance for our customers, including how and where to recycle, a guide to recycling symbols and top recycling tips.
“The overall aim is to ensure that our customers are aware of their recycling responsibilities and have the correct information to become more environmentally friendly in the home and work-place, all of which is focused around the traditional waste hierarchy principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”
