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Green expectations FURNITURE IS GOING GREEN TOO. BECAUSE WHO DOESN’T WANT TO SAVE THE PLANET?
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co-friendly is the phrase on everyone’s lips and in the world of furniture design it’s no different. But is the desire to be ‘eco-friendly’ just a fad based on buzz words and marketing spin, or is it the shape of things to come? For Arthur Potts Dawson, chef and owner of London’s Acorn House and Waterhouse restaurants, being environmentally aware is essential. Both his restaurants are marketed as eco-friendly and boast sustainable credentials from organic, clay-based paint, to tabletops made of English ash. “When I opened the first restaurant, people were saying ‘wow, it’s ecofriendly!’ like I’m doing something radical. But being environmentally aware isn’t a new thing for me – it’s how I try to live now and how I grew up,” says Arthur.
“It’s about tracing the source of everything you consume, right down to the materials,” he says. “The remit to our suppliers was that we do not buy anything that is unsustainable. Now we’ve got outdoor benches made from storm-felled London plane and cherry trees, and Arne Jacobsen chairs that are renowned for being made from sustainable wood.” SAVING THE PLANET Preston-based furniture manufacturer Tetrad is marketing its new Eco Range by telling customers to ‘do the world a favour’ and ‘save the planet’. It’s a call to action that stems from simply being aware of what is happening in the world right now, says Tetrad’s Pat Gibson: “We didn’t see an
‘eco-friendly’ trend as such, but just looked outside the market and recognised that global warming and saving the planet is on everyone’s agenda.” Spotting a trend definitely seems to be a forte of Tetrad’s design team – intentional or not. They’ve named the new constituent parts of its Eco range after a cluster of small towns in Devon that are becoming fashionable for their bohemian vibe and commitment to sustainable living. Most immediately recognisable perhaps, is a chair named after Totnes. This transitional town is achingly hip with a young, creative community and walnut trees planted along its roads because they are more useful than those that produce nothing. Yet the commitment to eco-friendly
Acorn House proves being eco-friendly in all areas, including furniture – is commercially viable
If you’re buying plastic, make sure it’s fully recyclable
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“We didn’t see an ‘ecofriendly’ trend as such, but just looked outside the market and recognised that global warming and saving the planet is on everyone’s agenda” furniture design has not come lightly to Tetrad. “It’s taken our design team almost two years to ethically source correct components like Water Buffalo hide leather,” says Pat. “We had to make sure that every supplier reached the ethical and quality standards that we wanted for our furniture.”
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Caramel: the Caramel chair from Inside Out Contracts is manufactured from a single piece of air-moulded polycarbonate and is fully recyclable
involved in the refurbishment of four of its venues, where Elgin leather has been used for seating. “Everybody is jumping on the ‘ecofriendly’ band wagon, but an awful lot haven’t a clue what they’re talking about,” says James.
GROWING THE TREND At the recent Milan Furniture Fair, Greenwich-based Inside Out Contracts hand-picked only sustainable products, including the Geneva chair made of wood from sustainable European forests. Inside Out’s Bill Ambrose says: “Most of the new products that we sourced at the Milan furniture fair this year are ‘recyclable’. “In other words the factories we use are making concerted efforts to be a little more ‘green’ in their design considerations, but it seems the ethos has yet to seep down to the ‘mass market’ of contract furniture factories.” New legislation to enforce greener furniture design may be on the horizon quicker than some think, but in the mean time it’s self-regulation that counts whether you’re a venue operator, manufacturer, or supplier. While it’s difficult to trace the source of every material and impossible to vouch for the entire supply chain, being ecofriendly is less about paying lip service to a trend and more about a way of life that’s set to stay. ■
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WORDS DEBORAH HATCH
BACK TO TRADITION As the quest for green alternatives takes hold, there is a distinct tide of interest in suppliers that use traditional methods. Both commercial operators and manufacturers are turning their back on chemicals by opting for materials like organic paint and naturally tanned leathers. Glasgow-based leather supplier Andrew Muirhead is defined by its traditional methods and locally sourced raw materials. Director James Lang says: “Our hides are transported from the UK’s abattoirs and to the customers, and the supply chain ends there. We’re not going out waving a big green flag as we do still have an impact on the planet, but for us the priority is minimising that impact.” It’s a genuine approach based on nearly two centuries of sustainable, local trade that is clearly appealing to customers. Jury’s hotels have recently commissioned Andrew Muirhead to be
“Manufacturers must substantiate that their product is from entirely sustainable sources and we can do that for our leather.”