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The Final Wish of an Old Table
“So let me get this straight, IKEA, the largest producer of disposable furniture, who after seven decades of filling up landfills with their low cost, single use stuff, who helped shift our collective consumption patterns away from reuse and towards fast furniture, and, as we have just 7 years and 77 days to make drastic changes to keep our emissions below the 1.5 degree threshold, according to the Climate Clock, are now offering to buy back their stuff. Super. For them, and their large private company. Then, there’s me. An old, real wooden coffee table who, for every year I live, provides a benefit to the planet, for not needing…
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Furniture Reuse Thrives at Homeless Camps
For every couch that makes it on this feed, there are millions of others that don’t. (Americans threw away over 24 billion pounds of furnishings in 2015.) In my community, it seems the flow of street furniture goes directly through our many homeless encampments. Furniture cast offs from home and apartment dwellers often find new life within Oakland’s 4,000+ unsheltered population. Though not often talked about, this is reuse, as much as shopping on eBay or Craigslist is. In its most basic form, reuse is a survival skill. One that humans have relied on since the beginning of time. We can forget that when we’re lucky enough to choose to…
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Furniture Waste Isn’t just on the Curb
Some may wonder if it’s still a crisis when the furniture is inside of the bin instead of on the curb. Yes. Yes, it is. Americans throw away over 24 billion pounds of furnishings a year. We don’t even know how much of that should be treated as garbage. Quality or reusability of furniture is not measured in our waste system. What I tend to see, rather, is furniture is disposed of as garbage when it’s no longer *wanted*. Should the decision of whether to bury furniture in a landfill till the end of time be decided not by its condition but by an individual’s whims or an emergency eviction?…
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Circularity in Furnishings
It was an honor to present Circularity in Furnishings, a story about my passion project, Loved Furniture Lasts, to the Sustainable Furnishings Council on May 21, 2020 as part of their Sustainability Essentials Webinar series. Summary findings: In 15 months, from Jan. 2019-Mar. 2020, within two miles of my home, I chronicled 592 pieces of discarded furniture. Added together, it weighed an estimated 50,578 pounds. Since weight in and of itself is not super useful, I graded them by condition and found 89% was reusable. Takeaway thoughts: This is not a waste problem, this is a lack of investment, infrastructure and imagination In a circular economy, downstream is the new…
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Will Wins!
Will drove past this bookshelf on his way home from the laundromat. Instantly recognizing its good condition, he pulled over to take a closer look. His partner was in need of one, he told me, and he liked its look and heft. We shared our amazement of how much freely available, good quality furniture peppered our streets. I told him I saw a skinny black bookshelf earlier that morning just up the hill, if he needed another. Moments later we had it loaded into the bed of his truck, and a used bookshelf was on its way to a new home. Local sharing for the win. #savedfromthelandfill #climatevictory
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Carrot as Compost; Couch as Catalyst
Food waste rescue is the art of saving food from the landfill for use and redistribution. This approach has spurred innovative catering companies, created shelf stable product lines, and provided culinary education and leadership training for people with barriers to employment. New industry segments all catalyzed by food waste—amazing. This work is creative, and logistically complicated, but so is climate change and food insecurity. Opting out is not an option. Can we rescue furniture waste with a similar model? Can we not salvage some materials and add value to others in the name of sustained waste prevention? Can we help create markets through legislation and education? Can we create jobs…
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Imagining Benefits that Benefited the Long Term
How much does language influence our thoughts? I love this example. A hospital connotes care, even when applied to furniture. This combination of words provides a gentle, refreshing reminder that furniture should not be disposable. Well made frames are built to have many lives. Talented reupholsterers are trained to bring each owner’s specific aesthetic to life. This loving maintenance, also known as reupholstery, powers multigenerational reuse, is kinder to the planet, supports skilled labor, and enriches the local community. Beyond language, what about payment? A hospital is also synonymous with insurance. Companies’ benefit packages offer pet insurance, and student loan payback perks, why not material maintenance insurance? It aligns our…
