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PRODUCTS ECO-CONSCIOUS
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GREEN GIANTS Does ‘going green’ matter more than ever? With consumer demand increasingly in concert with supply legislation, Furniture News presents the people and businesses leading the industry’s conversation around sustainability in our latest ecoconscious furniture feature, writes Paul Farley …
This month’s contributors, clockwise from top left: Marlene Greenhalgh; Alun Watkins; Roger Durrans; Susan Inglis; Ruairi Giles; Richard Naylor; and Mandy Carmody
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While our collective memories of 2020 will be dominated by Covid-19, the start of the year saw a very different topic dominating the headlines. In Australia, bushfires raged. NASA proclaimed 2019 the second-hottest year on record. Addressing the World Economic Forum in January, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said: “Our house is still on fire. Your inaction is fuelling the flames by the hour. We are telling you to act as if you loved your children above all else.” As we entered a new decade, there was a widespread sense that it was a make-or-break moment in the ongoing environmental emergency facing our planet. Commentators urged us to go electric, recycle, lobby Government, to do whatever it took to make a difference and start to reverse the damage caused by years of excessive production and consumption. Then, perversely, nature took a hand. A global pandemic eclipsed all else, travel was limited and emissions dropped, and many of us reflected on the future. Whether this pause has a lasting impact, or is erased as we hurriedly make up lost ground, is yet to be seen – but more people than ever now recognise the planet’s health as the most important issue of our time, and demand for sustainably produced goods and services is growing.
From manufacture to delivery, the furniture industry is a significant agent of production and consumption, and will be a major player in this movement. Already, a huge number of suppliers and retailers are putting sustainability at the heart of their business, and striving to find better ways to operate. This month, Furniture News shares the stories of just a few of the businesses playing their part, and asks a range of experts for their views on the changing nature of the green movement, where their priorities lie, the challenges in communicating the benefits, and more. Our thanks go to: Alun Watkins, national secretary/executive director, Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) UK, and chair of the Furniture Industry Sustainability Programme (FISP); Mandy Carmody, owner and founder, Quality Solutions (Technology); Marlene Greenhalgh, MD, Ammique; Richard Naylor, group sustainable development director, Hypnos Beds; Roger Durrans, CEO, and Liona Ripley, director of commercial and corporate responsibility, Jay-Be; Ruairi Giles, commercial director and head of sustainability, Harrison Spinks; and Susan Inglis, executive director of the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC).
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