Post by bonnasuttadhar225588 on Feb 15, 2024 7:09:45 GMT
After suffering a health crisis that negatively impacted most industries, there was one that estimated to close the year 2021 with a growth of 22% compared to 2020, positioning itself as not only a survivor, but a winner if we talk in terms of a pandemic. This is the furniture industry, which is already generating a negative environmental impact due to the level of speed with which it is produced and consumed. Do we already have fast fashion in furniture? According to Russian designer Harry Nuriev, yes: "People have started to treat furniture as a fashion, where we can change our decisions very quickly, move around and buy things." While it is true that consumers have begun to see themselves as agents of change according to the 2021 Global Sustainability Study, the reality is that fashion trends continue to sweep, leaving catastrophic consequences for the planet. Such is the case of fast fashion , that is, the production of large volumes of clothing based on trends and an invented need for innovation, which results in pollution and excessive use of natural resources, thus threatening sustainable development.
That is why fast fashion in furniture is becoming the focus not only of consumers, but of the industry and even designers. What is Fast Fashion in furniture? Fast fashion in furniture is understood as the accelerated production and consumption of these artifacts, without taking into account the environmental impact it has. Because if we look in detail at what it entails: generation of carbon emissions Timor Leste Email List in manufacturing, use of resources for production, and more emissions for transportation, we will see that changing the decoration of our home has a significant impact. Following this line, many may think that changing furniture is not as crude as changing clothes that we generally do when a new season arrives, but the reality is that according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), just as In 2028 alone, Americans threw away more than 12 million tons of furniture and household goods (up from 2.2 million tons in 1960), and more than 80% ended up in landfills. Such statistics translate into a serious environmental impact, especially if we observe that it was this same community that during the health emergency was in charge of purchasing desks, chairs and terrace furniture, reaching sales of more than 4 billion dollars between .
And unfortunately these will not last more than 10 years or less: "Many of the Ikea beds and Wayfair desks purchased during the COVID-19 lockdowns were designed to last about five years." Deana McDonagh, professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus. In the spotlight… According to a CNN article , buying furniture can be incredibly expensive and often takes weeks to arrive, so many turn to budget brands such as IKEA, a multinational corporation of Swedish origin, based in the Netherlands, dedicated to the manufacturing and retailing of flat-pack furniture, mattresses, and more. To date, this company is located in various parts of the world, having resounding success wherever it opens its doors. However, it is important to note that to keep prices low, affordable furniture makers often use cheaper but less durable materials, such as veneer-clad particle boards, which are more susceptible to damage and harder to recycle. "When furniture is not designed to be durable or recyclable, it is much more likely to end up in a landfill." Given this, IKEA , for example, is already working on using more renewable and recycled materials, eliminating waste in its operations and changing the way it designs its products and the services it offers. The objective? Prolong the life of these products and see them as resources for the future.