Sustainability in Furniture Design

If you are in the market for new furniture, you may be tempted to shop from familiar retailers like IKEA, The Brick, or Leon’s. These retailers have dominated the North American furniture market for decades based on their ability to offer affordable and convenient mass-produced furniture. Continuously pumping out new designs to satisfy the latest home decor trends has a negative impact when these pieces are not built to last. They can accomplish this by using wasteful fast furniture methods. 

The term fast furniture is used to describe furniture that is mass-produced from cheap materials and nearly impossible to repair or refurbish. These practices have resulted in devastating impacts on the environment and the waste we create. For example, each year, Americans throw out more than 12 million tons of furniture and furnishings, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Based on this industry-wide problem, Messen Furniture made sustainability a key focus in our design philosophy.

It is our commitment to use materials that are easily recyclable or reclaimed, in an effort to combat the waste the furniture industry creates. We strive to keep the manufacturing local, to support local economies and communities while limiting emissions from freight.

The Materials

Each piece of Messen Furniture is 100% unique and new to you, but it isn’t this woods’ first time around. Thanks to our partnership with Tafisa, every piece of furniture we produce is made from 100% recycled Canadian wood. This substantially minimizes the waste our products will contribute to the waste created by the furniture industry.

Local Manufacturing

As we grow, manufacturing will always be close. Messen Furniture uses a highly accessible manufacturing process that can be easily transferable to local workshops around the world. Currently, we only have one partnership in Okanagan, but we plan to grow this network to ensure every piece of Messen Furniture is manufactured within the same province. Having our products manufactured locally is great for the local economy and limits emissions with less freight distance.

Strive for Sustainability Together

The Okanagan is home to many great companies, but we would love to highlight a few in the home decor industry that are creating great sustainable products. Firstly, The Rogerie has combined 3D-printing technology with recycled plastic materials to create homewares that are both stylish and eco-friendly. Okanagan Candle Co. brings professional-grade 100% soy candles to you in your own vessel to limit the waste of candle jars. They also encourage refilling your initial candle jar by offering refills for a discounted price. There are many businesses in the Okanagan that offer sustainable goods, if we missed any we would love to hear about them!

All in all, Messen Furniture plans to disrupt the furniture industry and change the way you shop and think about furniture. Sustainability is a major area for improvement across the industry, and it is one of the many ways we plan to re-invent furniture.