Responsible Materials & Processes
June 4, 2020・ Sustainability, Dodds&Shute

Responsible Materials & Processes

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Our goal when designing our Shop platform was to dedicate this space to celebrating the very best of responsible manufacturing and identifying key, positive criteria to define what makes a product great. We have set rigorous requirements to feature in our Shop, because we believe that there are harmful materials and processes that are commonplace in our industry and we want to signal an end to their demand. Even responsible companies might, for example, have collections made from virgin plastic. In our vision of the future of this industry, there is no place for these kind of products.

From our research we identified 12 key criteria that would form the foundations of what would be featured in our shop. There are 5 essential requirements that could rule a product out of being included and 7 additional features which we would promote.

Essential Features
Timber must be sourced from a sustainable regulatory body such as FSC / PEFC etc
Plastic must be recycled from ocean or household waste
Aluminium must have a large percentage of recycled material
Metal must not be chrome-plated
Leather must not be chrome-tanned

Additional Features
Designed for a Circular Economy, eg. Cradle to Cradle
Natural Fillings rather than Polyurethane
Low VOC i.e. Greenguard Certified
Made Locally
Made from Recycled Material
Green Energy source such as solar, wind, water
Other sustainable material source such as cork, bamboo, mycelium

When using the website you will find icons representing these criteria throughout to help you identify why a product has succeeded in being featured. You can also apply filters to the shop to refine the selection by features that most matter to you

We hope that the work we have undertaken will enable designers to utilise our platform and quickly and easily make positive decisions when specifying. We feel it’s time that the marketplace encouraged a more conscious industry and make a concerted effort to be more responsible. Everyone involved in our sector all have a role to play and we want to help people achieve that change. We hope you will join us in our mission to change the industry, raise standards and buy consciously.

To learn more about our research into the Furniture Industry and request access to the D&S Sustainability Report please contact us at [email protected].

Responsible Materials & Processes

Our goal when designing our Shop platform was to dedicate this space to celebrating the very best of responsible manufacturing and identifying key, positive criteria to define what makes a product great. We have set rigorous requirements to feature in our Shop, because we believe that there are harmful materials and processes that are commonplace in our industry and we want to signal an end to their demand. Even responsible companies might, for example, have collections made from virgin plastic. In our vision of the future of this industry, there is no place for these kind of products.

From our research we identified 12 key criteria that would form the foundations of what would be featured in our shop. There are 5 essential requirements that could rule a product out of being included and 7 additional features which we would promote.

Essential Features
Timber must be sourced from a sustainable regulatory body such as FSC / PEFC etc
Plastic must be recycled from ocean or household waste
Aluminium must have a large percentage of recycled material
Metal must not be chrome-plated
Leather must not be chrome-tanned

Additional Features
Designed for a Circular Economy, eg. Cradle to Cradle
Natural Fillings rather than Polyurethane
Low VOC i.e. Greenguard Certified
Made Locally
Made from Recycled Material
Green Energy source such as solar, wind, water
Other sustainable material source such as cork, bamboo, mycelium

When using the website you will find icons representing these criteria throughout to help you identify why a product has succeeded in being featured. You can also apply filters to the shop to refine the selection by features that most matter to you

We hope that the work we have undertaken will enable designers to utilise our platform and quickly and easily make positive decisions when specifying. We feel it’s time that the marketplace encouraged a more conscious industry and make a concerted effort to be more responsible. Everyone involved in our sector all have a role to play and we want to help people achieve that change. We hope you will join us in our mission to change the industry, raise standards and buy consciously.

To learn more about our research into the Furniture Industry and request access to the D&S Sustainability Report please contact us at [email protected].

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