Seeing the wood for the trees
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that 10 million hectares of forest have been cut down each year since 2010. The effects of deforestation are hugely damaging, since the loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, crop loss, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people.
The wood furniture industry is a prime enabler of deforestation. When businesses mass-produce virgin wood furniture, they typically manufacture as much as possible to meet high demand. This means that often, few measures are taken to protect tropical forests from being cut down, or to replace critical trees and vegetation.
Many manufacturers have moved towards using laminates and veneers in furniture, but these are not environmentally friendly. As a man-made material, laminate requires intense energy usage and has a poor lifecycle analysis, since it does not decompose. Furthermore, there have long been concerns about volatile organic compounds (VOCs) used in the construction of laminated wood.
Micro Plastics sample analysis
Specialist equipment on board a ship in Antartica was used to analyse sea water and measure levels of microplastics.
Deforestation is a human issue
The effects of deforestation are not just damaging to wildlife, causing a loss of land, native homesteads and habitat – it can harm humans too.
For a host of ecological reasons, the loss of forest can act as an incubator for insect-borne and other infectious diseases that can cross species barriers from animals to humans. This is known as zoonosis. Covid-19, for example, is a zoonotic disease and there are numerous other examples.
Forest areas also provide much needed drinking water, food and jobs to surrounding communities and indigenous people. Loss of land will plunge these communities into food insecurity, worsening a global food security issue.
Our solution
Our furniture products are manufactured from 100% recycled UK plastic lumber, which have the aesthetics of wood, with the durability of plastic.
By reusing plastic waste to manufacture our products, we are helping to protecting the earth from deforestation as well as helping to save up to 2.5 trees per tonne of material: that is the equivalent to 1,500 trees a year.
Furthermore, our products come with a 20-year warranty, reflecting our confidence in their lifecycle. This enables our customers to purchase products which have the same aesthetic and feel as wood but with added durability and a clean environmental conscience.