From food to clothing, anything can be purchased inexpensively, and acquired quickly. Our need for speed permeates just about every aspect of our society. Only nostalgia creates a market for slow. And the focus of nostalgic-spotlighting is as fleeting as time itself.
Furniture has been increasingly transitioning into a fast-good too. At least here in America, the IKEA model of supplying flat-packed low cost furniture started a fast-furniture market that was exponentially broadened with the advent of the internet we know today.
The Cost of Low Cost Furniture
Nowadays, it’s commonplace to find many design options for a retail price below a couple hundred dollars, from any big-box retail chain, that is in-stock or delivered in a few days. Remember that old framework of “Fast, Good, Cheap”? Picking two for fast furniture offers the market a solution of faster and cheaper, but fails to deliver on the “Good” attribute.
This is where the costs of low cost furniture begin to create a snowball effect on the global market in a few paramount categories.
Environmental
Among the highest category for ad-dollars spent, the environmental impacts of our societal choices are evident. The popularity of a fast culture creates goods that drive manufacturers to source raw materials based on the cheapest solution. Little regard is considered for the habitats and ecosystems most affected by the material resource extraction.
Even more tragic, the environment takes a second and arguably more significant hit when the product is disposed. Fast, cheap goods sacrifice quality, and generally shorten its useable life significantly, creating a revolving-door effect – causing double the damage in a relative short time.
Biological
Our biologic wellbeing as a society empowers us to move onward in our world, innovate and make our dreams a reality. Our health is principal to everything else we strive toward. Low cost goods often skirt around best- or better-practices in regard to our health impact in order to produce the product based on bottom-line goals.
Voluntary inspections and certifications can be time consuming and expensive, impeding in the competitive advantage of a manufacturer. However, when these voluntary measures are not taken, human health and wellbeing hangs in the balance.
Economical
Manufacturing goods which are quickly produced and cheap, often sources labor from underserved countries where fair-labor practices are not well established. These tradeoffs create a proposition without equity for the producers.
Even once the goods are purchased and in-use, any incurred issue or damage usually causes a catastrophic event for the continue use of that product, again resulting in a revolving-door effect.
Designing a Lasting Value
At Luonto Furniture, we believe our home should be a place of harmony, for ourselves, our environment, our health and our economy. This is the value of quality.
All our furniture is built with the highest raw materials available to us, each certified with globally recognized certificates and sourcing standards. We believe true sustainability is built into the whole process and affects a product on every level.
From the frame and foam, cushioning and fill, to upholstery covering and performance properties, every material is certifiably safe for human and pet health. We maintain certifications in voluntary inspections and take pride in the quality and safety of our product without adding unnecessary chemicals.
Built with quality, every piece of furniture we design is crafted with repairability in-mind. We know although our research and design team is top-notch, we cannot plan for every situation. This is why we design repairability into every design. From legs, to arms, cushions or mechanisms, if the unforeseen occurs now or in ten years from now, it is repairable, restoring the furniture’s use back to like-new condition.
High quality furniture is a sustainable choice. Crafted with high quality components, and often certified with by global conservation boards, it produces a product designed to last a generation, rather becoming waste in a few years. In every factor, high quality furniture offers a sustainable choice for furniture.
Article reposted from: https://www.luonto.com