In the past, furnishing a home meant investing in objects of durable quality. Each piece of furniture was crafted with care using solid materials with the goal of lasting for years. This initial investment translated to impeccable functionality over time, without the need for constantly replacing items.
Today, we are witnessing the opposite trend where more and more people opt for cheaper furnishings, motivated by the idea that what they like today may not be liked tomorrow. This "disposable" mentality generates serious environmental and economic consequences, leading to an increase in landfills and the use of unsustainable materials.
In the US, for example, over 12 million tons of furniture and furnishings were discarded in 2018 alone, of which 80% ended up in landfills. This situation not only produces a large amount of waste, but also requires deforestation, extraction of natural resources and the use of harmful chemicals in the mass production of furniture.
The solution is to slow down, choose to consume less but better, opting for high-quality and sustainable handcrafted furniture, and rewarding small businesses that specialize in recycling and upcycling. Even experts in the furniture industry have an important role in guiding their clients towards a culture of conscious and responsible consumption.
The EU directive on "green buildings" aims to reduce harmful emissions in the building sector by 55% by 2030. It is expected that new buildings will have to be zero-emission starting from 2028, while existing ones will have to reach a sustainable energy class by certain deadlines. It is therefore important that, in addition to building sustainable energy-efficient structures, attention is also paid to interior furnishings, choosing durable and sustainable materials.
Ethical beauty is the future of furnishing and we can all contribute to this change by choosing to furnish our homes with pieces of durable quality. This approach can incentivize a new aesthetic that supports the entire production chain and is ethically and ecologically correct.
