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June15
Style and price are usually the deciding factors
when it comes to choosing furniture for your home,
but its environmental impact is an increasingly
important consideration. We speak to TIFFANY NG,
Ethnicraft Online
’s marketing and sales executive,
about the sustainability of its teak furniture, and
about the journey from tree to final product.
E
thnicraft’s furniture products are currently distributed
by more than 1,200 furniture retailers in 50 countries
around the world. With such a wide network, the
company places a great deal of importance on
addressing the issue of rapid deforestation by using sustainable
teak as one of its primary materials.
But what does this actually mean? Firstly, the only teak the
company uses is fast-growing Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC)-certified wood from sustainably harvested forests.
Ethnicraft works closely with the Indonesian government to
ensure tree-replanting policies are enforced, and to restrict
the number of trees cut down each year. “This also means that
we are safe in the assurance that no foreign chemicals have
been used, as the logs are supplied straight to our factory in
Indonesia and processed from scratch,” explains Tiffany.
For some of the furniture, they use recycled teak sourced from
residential andwarehouse buildings. “With recycled teak, you can
seemore of the grain; this adds character to the wood and gives a
more rustic look that some customers really like.” Even the sawdust
fromthe factory is gatheredupandused. “We first compress it, and
then we add it to the packaging for the containers,” says Tiffany.
Small pieces of wood are also put to good use, for patching up
pieces, finger-jointing or fuel for the drying ovens.
By Amy Brook-Partridge
Environment-friendly
FURNITURE