If you’ve found your way to our blog, chances are you already know how committed we are at B2C Furniture to sustainable, hard-wearing furniture pieces that are constructed from hardwood, inexpensive and will not end up in landfill.
At the heart of B2C Furniture is our deep desire to make substance and style affordable to the environmentally conscious Australian. By thoughtfully curating a range constructed by sustainable hardwood timber, we are committed to providing hard-wearing, high value pieces, whilst empowering our community with sustainable consumer habits. We are makers of modern, mindful furniture that won't cost the Earth, nor cost the Earth its survival.
We’ve enlightened your lives with Sustainable Home Decor and how best to bring the pieces in your home together to craft a sustainable oasis, but we thought it best to delve a bit deeper into the intricacies of our sustainability, and just what it is that sets us apart from other furniture retailers and the practises and processes that we use.
Our Hardwood Timber
Our sustainable, hard-wearing, hardwood timber furniture is our whole raison d'être. We pride ourselves on our commitment to sustainability and producing furniture that won't cost the Earth, nor cost the Earth its survival. By taking advantage of the durability and longevity of hardwood timber, we are ensuring we don’t contribute to the mountains of waste being produced by humanity at a concerningly increasing rate.
Our hardwood furniture is manufactured using Malaysian Rubberwood. Our timber is certified with the timber industry board in Malaysia (the MTIB); this means that there has been an accredited third party recognise that our products and processes are sustainable and environmentally friendly over the long term - how exciting! The rubber plantation trees that we make use of are generally harvested for wood after they complete the latex producing cycle - when they are 25 to 30 years old. So, the trees we are felling have previously been used to produce latex for other means - what a win-win! Also - who knew latex was made from trees!?
The hardwood timber we use in our products can be recycled or even upcycled at the end of its life. When you move into a smaller space or decide it’s time to downsize, you can simply recycle the timber for another purpose, meaning less is ending up in landfill.
Also, by treating and sealing our hardwood timber products, it allows us to prolong the lifespan of your products and keep them in your home longer. It doesn’t all start and end with the wood, though! The paint and sealant grades used on our beds and other products are Low VOC and pass EN71 safety certifications, which is a universal certification for furniture and toys. Low VOC paint and glue grades are used on products to ensure that the finish doesn't dissipate over time, and also ensures longevity of the aesthetic - which we all know is just as important!
Eco-friendly textiles
There’s no use in having sustainable timber if we’re being detrimental in other ways - which is why we make a concious effort to select eco-friendly fabrics in the of our dining chairs, sofas, and occasional chairs where practical.
Throughout our various different colour and fabric options in our products, there are of course a number of different fabric compositions and life cycles that we go through. The majority of our fabrics are made from natural fibres, and are free from all your predictable no-nos; phthalates, formaldehyde, chromium, azo-dyes, cadmium, phenol, lead, and DMF. The majority of our fabrics are comprised of 18% Linen, 30% Cotton, 42% Polyester, and 10% Viscose.
We don’t use any pesticides or chemicals in the processing of our fabrics. We choose fabrics from our manufacturers that are soft, breathable, and lightweight, not only for the added benefit of being easy to clean and maintain but also due to their nature of being more long-lasting, and when the time comes, easily biodegradable.
You will have also noticed that our rugs are made from a variety of different materials. You can still decorate your home beautifully without having a negative impact on the environment! Take our jute rugs for example; cultivated in tropical parts of the world, Jute is an eco-friendly resource made from organic plant fibres - a renewable resource. Our other rugs and materials are ethically sourced, so you can rest assured we are being held accountable for every step of our manufacturing and procurement journey.
Plastics
Of course, it’s not just our timber and our fabrics that are walking the walk - the plastics that we use in our outdoor furniture are also recycled. It’s no secret that plastic is a widely used material across the world. With the human population increasing, we have seen an increase in demand for consumables, leading to high volumes of waste and landfill sites that are rapidly growing every year. Sadly, it is this waste that contributes to the destruction of our beloved flora and fauna.
By using recycled plastics we can help to reduce the volume of waste in our ecosystem and consequently conserve the energy and the resources the manufacturing process takes! It’s all part of our bigger-picture outlook that means that we are completely committed to our sustainability journey, across all aspects of the business. We know we still have a long way to go, but nobody’s perfect!
Steel
Steel is one of the world’s most sustainable materials; permanent, forever reusable and among the most recycled substances on the planet. When we set out on our mission to pave the way as leaders in sustainable hardwood timber manufacturers dealing direct to public, we knew it had to be ingrained in our brand DNA to not stray from our sacred path of environmental responsibility.
Steel can be recycled again and again without compromising on quality and then reused and repurposed, enabling its participation in the circular economy. Its high strength and reinforcing capacity enable the reduction of construction material use, conserving energy and resources, and allows futureproofing of structures to be modified or extended later.
In doing so, it meant we would be able to make additions to our product offering, whilst still maintaining the same mantra that we have held true all along; sustainable, renewable materials that are affordable and accessible to the everyday Australian. With the addition of steel framed furniture, such as dining chairs, bookcases, and storage shelves, we had to ensure we were still being just as responsible with our decision making processes. Our steel products are also powder coated to protect against rust and other corrosion, giving them even more longevity.
Steel is just as renewable as the hardwood timber that we use; potentially even more so. Its ability to be melted down and repurposed into just about anything lends itself to be almost the ultimate renewable. Sturdy and resilient as steel is, when treated correctly and looked after, you will find that it has an even longer lifespan than hardwood.
Furniture shouldn't cost you the earth, nor should it cost the Earth its survival.
At B2C Furniture, we are well aware of the damning environmental impacts we as humans are having on the planet and the rate at which consumerism leaves behind a damaging footprint. By taking advantage of sustainably harvested and grown timber products, coupled with the quality of steel frame construction and workmanship, we represent an unbeatable combination of long lasting furniture and an affordable price tag.
We want the decision to make sustainable choices a no-brainer. You shouldn’t have to feel financially handicapped for wanting to help protect our precious planet and put a stop to our over-indulgent, carefree inclinations, whilst still maintaining the same decor scheme as your favourite Pinterest boards. Hence, we started our venture by investing the time to find ethical furniture manufacturers. By directly sourcing our furniture and cutting out the inflated mark-ups of the “middleman” we’ve built a genuine Business-2-Consumer (B2C) Furniture brand.
We are constantly working and meeting with our suppliers to make an effort to better our processes. We are toeing the line between staying affordable for our customers and making ethically responsible choices for the future of the planet.
At B2C Furniture, we are committed to our sustainability journey across all aspects of the manufacturing process, and we are so excited to be able to educate consumers and enable them to make informed decisions that will better the future of our planet, and the generations still to come.
