Design: Buying pre-owned furniture helps our planet a little bit each time

When we buy pre-owned items, we create an opportunity. To own a product of high intrinsic value with reduce waste and recycling costs simultaneously.

It's a win-win.

I was reading an article recently on Circular Economy in the Furniture Industry. They state there are 6 key cycles to make furniture more circular:

1. Maintain – using preventative maintenance to maximise product lifetime.

2. Repair – corrective maintenance; when it breaks, fix it. Read about the growing right-to-repair movement in Australia.

3. Reuse – redistributing products through a change in ownership. Consider buying someone else's table. Brandition often has ex-hire items for sale. Check what's on our current list. If we have a stock item, you are interested in purchasing that's not in our buy section, get in touch.

4. Refurbish – remanufacturing the product to optimize its lifetime, e.g., by resizing a table or changing the appearance of a chair through re-upholstering to extend 'fashion' service life.

5. Re-purpose – change the product's functionality, e.g., a table becomes a bench seat.

6. Recycle – recovering the value of components and materials as secondary materials in new products.

From day 1 of business, Brandition has taken a circular approach. In everything we build or buy, we try to maintain a Brandition Economy mindset.

The six key cycles stated above are easy to achieve when you start your goal by thinking about minimal environmental waste. These ideals are transferrable to any product, not just furniture. Generally, our considerations are small-scale with local social impacts. However, with everyone considering this concept, its effects can serve larger-scale environmental and economic futures.

So how do we change this?

1. Advocate CHOICE. Decide to buy second hand, recycle, reuse, and help spread the enthusiasm.

2. Consider the END. Think of the life expectance of your product—additionally, maintenance and what you need to keep its condition throughout that time.

If you have further ideas or thoughts on how to help make this change, please comment below or email me at michelle@brandition.com.au. I'd love to hear from you!

Brandition is a team of specialists that design, build, hire, style, and install furnishings sustainably for the events and hospitality industries. The Team addresses the environmental impact of products and materials while providing beauty, usability, and functional spaces.beauty, usability and practicality.