Sustainability made easy
Think sustainable design is out of your budget? Lost in all the buzzwords? Is it even your responsibility anyway?
Join the BIID for an informative panel discussion that will tackle some of the myths around sustainable design and help you simplify your project while protecting the planet.
PANEL
Mathew Freeman (Chair) - https://www.freemanstudio.co.uk
Stephanie Dias - https://sdiaslondon.com
Jo Chrobak - https://www.jochrobak.com
Helen Gordon - https://nestedliving.co.uk
After welcoming the guests to our panel, I introduced myself and the sustainable approach Freeman Studio takes when designing, and that health and wellbeing is the primary factor in decision-making. Looking into the air we breathe, water we drink, food we consume, and how materials we choose to surround ourselves can impact humans, wildlife, and the environment.
I then clarified what “Sustainability” means for the purpose of our discussions today:
Sustainability refers to the ability to maintain something over time, particularly in a way that does not deplete resources or harm the environment. It's about meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.
Something is better than nothing - start your journey to a healthier life / planet.
The structure of today's panels is to start at a high level, looking at strategies for whole buildings, then move towards smaller decisions. After asking the panel to introduce themselves and share how their interior design practice addresses sustainability.
Do it once, do it right - seek professional advice….
To begin, Helen discussed how their approach to historical properties is driven by sustainability….
Followed by Jo, and on the flip side of the coin, how new builds offer an opportunity to really integrate sustainability in all aspects of a project.
I wanted to then introduce the concept of the “lateral” economy to the audience, as the process of material extraction, manufacturing, use, end of life, then sending to landfill. As well as the solution to this wasteful process, the “circular economy” where resources are used to create items, that are repaired, repurposed, reused with the aim of keeping the materials in a giant circular motion, with recycling being a last resort.
Stephanie then spoke about how her business analyses projects, defines what can be utilised for the project, if any materials can be broken down and used as building materials and if any can be sold to others for further use.
The most sustainable thing to do is to do nothing at all.
This doesn't necessarily mean to do nothing. It means to work with what you have, analyse what you have, how this can be modified to meet your brief. It may be that working with an interior designer, you can integrate your brief and find efficiencies in your space planning to achieve your goal in a more resource and cost-efficient way.
I then posed a client’s requirement for a new item for their home. When looking, this is now typically online, on Instagram, in magazines or in store, all of which tend to lean towards refreshing stock seasonally.
Helen provided her opinion on trends and how what you purchase should be something you love and not driven by trends.
This will mean you surround yourself with what we need, have an emotional connection to and therefore will care for and look after for longer. Sticking with the consumer side of things. In advertisements, on product packaging there can be a number of claims made in relation to ‘sustainable’ credentials of an item, sometimes these claims are misleading and not entirely clear to the purchaser.
Jo clearly explained about greenwashing, what to expect to see in terms of accreditations on products and to interrogate a brand /products’ claims.
long-term environmental impact
In the introduction, we discussed the definition of sustainability as being: It's about meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Having a mindset that considers future generations, 100 years into the future, a thousand years.
Helen spoke with passion about her company's approach to design, the considerations of designing for longevity - not obsolescence. Manufacturing with customer maintenance in mind, where spare legs may be available, bolts can be ordered - to keep items within the ‘circular economy’ for longer - increasing the items’ lifespan.
If you require something new for your home, start with what already exists in the world, do you really need something new.
If you do have items of furniture, a chair for example, that you do not require anymore. Stephanie explained the options for what you can do with unwanted items. This included donating to charity, selling on Facebook Marketplace, listing on Vinterior, eBay to name just a few.
Buy less, buy better.
Shopping with the mantra above in mind will mean you make selections based on quality, durability as well as being mindful to look after the piece as you have invested your hard-earned money to buy it. Also, at the end of life, the piece may also hold value and may be able to be sold for a higher value if it has been well looked after. Which then brought me onto the subject of “Patina of time” expressed on pre-loved products. This describes the general wear and tear of items over time, marks that provide a sense of history to pieces, allowing connection, narratives to build and more of an emotional connection to be made.
Jo explained how pre-loved pieces and their Patina of time are important when building an interior scheme, that pieces from different periods can meld together and create a timeless feel that is richer because of the layers of history.
YUKA app
We were all young once and as we age, we need to learn to love the “patina” of ourselves, not let social media shame us into consuming. I regularly recommend an app to audiences, one that provides details of food and beauty products in regard to their health rating - from 0 = bad to 100 = excellent. YUKA app scans barcodes on food and products and provides analysis of the product to help you make better choices. This is a good gateway to introduce consideration of what you put in and on your body, which leads to higher levels of awareness that then will hopefully lead to informed decisions on the clothes we wear and the materials we surround ourselves with.
Natural is best.
We did touch on the world of fast homewares, that these are again, purchases made for the moment, not for the long term and could potentially be discarded as easily and quickly as they were selected.
Love, passion, personality and narrative are so important in what we choose to surround ourselves with.
Furniture - 22 million pieces sent to landfill in 2023 - choose existing furniture as a starting point, invest in better quality - buy less (2.)
Mattress - approximately 8.5 million a year sent to landfill - choose natural / choose to recycle old mattress. (1.)
Accessories - think before you buy…. 3% global emissions are from freight / shipping goods - choose existing items / choose local / buy what you need not what you want. (3.)
We finished by thanking our listeners and reiterated that starting small is key, try the YUKA app and hopefully you will see lifestyle changes, lead to changes in the materials you surround yourself with.
References:
1. https://www.tfrgroup.co.uk/latest-news/the-challenges-of-mattress-recycling-in-the-uk/
Want to make your home more sustainable? Contact Freeman Studio for expert advice on eco-friendly interior design.
