Why choose sustainable or environmentally friendly furniture?

Sustainable furniture covers a wide spectrum, from furnishings to bed linen to dining room accessories or environmentally friendly furniture. Designers have access to many design modes to create sustainable furniture, it's what we can call eco-design. Recycled furniture is a prime example of this, whether it is a coffee table, a storage cabinet or book shelves, whatever is used has come from something that had a previous life. This type of recycling reduces waste and puts items on the market which have a smaller impact on the environment. Another method takes into account the durability and opportunity for repairs right from when the product is first designed. All the component parts must be easy to take apart, repair, and at the end of the product’s life be easy to recycle by separating.

Some companies even go further in this approach. In addition to the raw materials, they also consider the whole manufacturing process. In this way, furniture is produced in as local an area as possible, so as to limit transportation and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Limiting all forms of pollution is at the heart of an environmentally friendly approach. Thus, the use of water and fossil fuels is reasonable. Additionally, in order to reduce waste, packaging is reduced to a minimum. The solutions of upcycling are also used. Here, the offcuts of oak used to create a designer desk or dining table are used for example as firewood.

With increasing pollution and global warming, being environmentally aware is becoming more the norm in society. Much more than a passing trend, it is a desire to change our way of living which is becoming established at every level, and primarily with consumers. Every business sector is affected, including the realm of interior and exterior furniture. Environmentally friendly design has the advantage of transparency when it comes to tracing product provenance. The origin of raw materials is guaranteed and manufacturing is ensured to take place through a sustainable approach. For example for wooden furniture, there are labels which guarantee it comes from sustainable manufacturing and from forests which are ecologically managed. Furthermore, furniture designed in raw timber is environmentally friendly as opposed to lower end furniture made from chipboard panels, which is made from wood chips mixed with glue which gives off volatile organic compounds - VOC - which are harmful for health and the environment. Now combatting pollution in all its forms is at the heart of an environmentally friendly approach.

LAFUMA MOBILIER’ watchword "more comfort for our customers – a smaller impact on the environment". Sustainable design is in our company’s DNA. LAFUMA MOBILIER and sustainable development has a long history, which has lasted since 1954. Each element making up loungers, relaxation chairs, deckchairs or tables has been carefully chosen. Also, we use steel and aluminium which is partially recycled, our paints are 100 % recycled and stitching thread is made in France.

Slow déco has become a trend pushing back against over-consumption and the model of buying–consuming – disposing which is becoming obsolete today. This is why LAFUMA MOBILIER’s designer furniture ranges claim to be strong and repairable. To fight programmed obsolescence and the disposable culture, the choice of durable raw materials is paramount. Within the selection of high-quality materials, HLE steel is lighter and more resistant, 100 % polyester powder coating paint is seven times more resistant than traditional epoxy, etc. Additionally our products are designed to last. Therefore, parts like laces, floor guards, tips and cog adjusters can be easily changed, and seating is designed with removable fabric so as to be able for example to change a deckchair cover yourself. Finally, at the end of their life, our products are easy to take apart in order to make sorting components for more effective recycling easier.

However, we are concerned not only with raw materials, the whole production chain is designed sustainably. An ecological approach demands local manufacturing.