What does sustainability mean? How can you make sustainable choices?
Dunia Designs and all genuine sustainable furniture companies seek to advance our cradle-to-cradle economy; benefiting people and the environment with a range of high-quality home and lifestyle products made from sustainable materials - in our case, recycled plastic. Our enterprise processes low-grade recycled plastic into lumber (Greenwood) as a replacement for wood in our furniture, and decking and construction materials. In this way, Dunia Designs directly contributes to:
reducing environmental degradation,
increasing employment in the green economy,
educating communities and consumers.
How do you know you are making sustainable choices?
How can you believe us at our word? What exactly is truly sustainable furniture, or for that matter, a truly sustainable company? As defined by the Oxford dictionary 2021, sustainability means anything which encompasses “the property of being environmentally sustainable; the degree to which a process or enterprise is able to be maintained or continued while avoiding the long-term depletion of natural resources.“
Following on from this, how can we then, as consumers, verify a piece of furniture is authentically sustainable? The best and only way to do so is to fact find directly about a company’s sustainable practices. These will be told in the story of the capturing or harvesting of the original recycled or sustainably-farmed raw product.
Actions you can take to make sustainable choices and hold companies accountable
Talk to your retailers, suppliers and the company directly – ask questions. What are the current certifications of the product plus the proof of practices and ethics surrounding the procurement and processing of the product? This must also include the treatment of those employed in all areas of the value chain from source to final production – we must not forget that we humans are an integral part of the environment. Ask if the company’s production processes include any toxic elements in the treatment or manufacturing of the goods or service?
We dare you to challenge and enquire, otherwise, the world will soon be awash with corporations taking up this critical space and market, with little more than false and meaningless declarations to improve their own company’s image.
The elephant in the room - our global carbon footprint
When reflecting on practices which the company espouses, we must consider everything from the business’ ethical standpoints; employment rights and correct processes and procedures. These need to be employed all the way from the sourcing of sustainable or recycled materials, to the manufacturing, implementing or finalizing of product. This is before even talking about the major elephant in this space; the carbon footprint of transporting these goods from A to B and how this can best be offset either by the consumer or indeed the company themselves.
From experience, we must tell you it is a never-ending quagmire! It still slows down rapid and major growth when it shouldn’t! Certainly not in this day and age of climate crises. Imagine a world where Lisa Swallow’s 2009 publication ‘Sustainable Business for Dummies’ was the holy grail. Where this genuine eco-sphere was prioritized, simplified, incubated and encouraged by governments, policymakers and courier companies alike!
Believing in something AND living by it put simply, means a lot of extra hard work and ensuring that no blind eye is turned. There is one long maze of a map from idea to conception, and if we drop the ethical ball on any of the points along the way, we are not embodying our ethos. How easy it could be to be yet another company competing for the market by making claims but simply not acting on it.
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Check out our collections to view our kgs of plastic recycled and the number of trees saved, through the production of our sustainable furniture: https://www.duniadesigns.org/shop-collections