Local retailer Crafted Furniture is taking matters in its own hands, going back to a more traditional method of retailing furniture to help protect the environment and give customers a more thoughtfully curated experience.
The rise of fast fashion and disposable goods has also given way to another trend―fast furniture. Plenty of new upstarts in the home furnishings industry are offering products that seem great on the surface, with little thought to their long term use and how it affects the world.
Crafted Furniture’s founder, Justin Burden, reveals how wasteful the process is when you buy a piece of furniture from a ‘typical’ retailer.
“The large majority of retailers are importing goods from Asia,” he says.
“These mass produced goods are made from materials that are shipped from all over the world to the factory, and then the finished goods are shipped thousands of kilometres to warehouses and distribution centres in Australia, and then shipped again to customers.”
According to Oceana, more than three per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions can be attributed to ocean-going ships. This is an amount comparable to major carbon-emitting countries and the industry continues to grow rapidly.
Large upholstered goods are especially harmful when they are imported, as they take up large volumes of space on an ocean-going ship, says Burden.
“The quality of goods is also not on-par with what we would expect in Australia, and when they are delivered to your home they are often packed with nasty chemicals that affect pets and little ones.”
Crafted Furniture manufactures locally in Sydney and produces furniture on demand. By cutting out the importing process and manufacturing locally, Crafted Furniture is able to produce and deliver a fully customised piece of furniture in approximately four weeks.
“We’ve seen some competitors offering things like 3-hour delivery for a couch, which is great if you’re in urgent need of a couch or mattress, but entirely unnecessary for the vast majority of customers.”
