Sustainability
Innovation in Upholstery
How sustainable is upholstery? What are the modern-day makers doing to consider the global impact of their work? What services does the future need us to provide? Why is sustainability so important?
How Bristol Upholstery Collective is approaching sustainability
22 million pieces of furniture are discarded each year in the UK alone.
Here at Bristol Upholstery Collective, we are passionate about creating meaningful relationships between people and their possessions.
We spend a huge amount of our lives surrounded by furniture so why not make quality pieces that can be remade and restored to last a lifetime?
Circular Economy - helping to preserve raw materials and minimise waste
Upholstery is a huge player in taking the future of furniture into a more sustainable circular economy.
Emotionally Durable Design? Create value in existing items of furniture rather than new ones. Designing items that customers want to keep and treasure - family heirlooms
Enhance the resilience of relationships between people and their products.
Generating durable meaning and value of products,
Slow interiors/design?
Designing intentionally, for your space/home for longevity
Designing for future generations
"The best way to predict the future is to design it."
- Buckminster Fuller
BUC EVENTS 2022
Sitting Sustainably...
Second sitters, Alex Law, Vanessa Butt, Rachel South
Vanessa Butt - Is on a mission to be foam free
Offers her new eco-friendly cushion to her clients called Thought-Fill.
THE SECOND SITTERS
We invited Cable and Blake.....
Sustainable benefits of wool...
Naturally fire retardant
Renewable
Natural fibre - biodegradable, doesn't contribute to micro plastic pollution
Reacts well with moisture, warm in winter, cool in summer
The Eco Modern Footstool
Modern upholstery often uses synthetic materials, such as foam. These synthetic materials are linear in their use and have no value once disregarded.
Compostable components:
A layer of rubberised coconut fibre which is suspended in natural latex
Cotton Wool layered felt.
The lifecycle of the footstool.
> Frame made from southern yellow pine. Pine is a fast-growing species, which tends to be more sustainable than slow-growing woods like Oak. Southern
Yellow Pine is a clean, renewable, non-toxic, recyclable, bio-degradable & energy-efficient building material
Clean - In its natural form, it doesn't release any toxic gases or fumes, making it clean and chemical-free.
Renewable - Southern pine is the most sustainably renewed species of tree in the world. The harvesting process in the EU now requires more trees to be planted than harvested, so our forests are actually growing!
Recyclable - The wood can be re-used and reworked to suit another project.
Bio-degradable - It will decompose and return its nutrients to the Earth's natural cycle.
>Hairpin legs - Made from Steel
Due to its strength, a minimal amount is needed to do the job
It is endlessly recyclable - nearly 70% of new steel products produce each year are sourced from scrap metal instead of fresh ore.
It is non-toxic to humans and the environment
Very hard-wearing, can be repainted and upcycled
> Hessian - Hard-wearing, economical, easily grown and produced, biodegradable
>Bottom Cloth, Webbing, Piping cord, Cotton Wool Wadding - Cotton is sustainable, renewable, and biodegradable
>Woolguard - being 100% natural, renewable and biodegradable, thermo-regulating, no microplastics.
Atmospheric carbon - acts like a fertiliser by slowly releasing valuable nutrients and carbon back into the soil
>Spray Glue
>Nylon Twine
> Rubberised Hair - Covered in Neoprene
Reupholster every 10 years for £200 = £0.05p per day