Lowering the carbon footprint
HIGH POINT — In the world of home furnishings, there’s often a lot of talk about sustainability and how companies are trying to lower their carbon footprint.
But opportunities to actually learn about those initiatives in person with the product center stage often can be elusive.
Thanks to the Sustainable Furnishings Council, several companies had that opportunity to communicate their sustainability story to an audience of 35 designers and retailers attending last month’s High Point Market. On April 22, which also coincided with Earth Day, the SFC and LiveABLE Environment hosted a Sustainability Tour that included five showrooms in the Commerce Concourse and Centennial Wrenn neighborhoods at market.
The five companies, which are SFC members, are Phillips Collection, Woven, Greenington Fine Bamboo Furniture, Copeland Furniture and Porter Designs. These are all companies that have marketed their sustainability story in the past. The tour gave them the chance to communicate it live and in person at market, which helps the message resonate even further.
At each showroom, SFC program director Angie Kenny interviewed various company representatives about their individual sustainability stories on a host of topics including materials sourcing, manufacturing and finishing processes, packaging and shipping.
“Designers and buyers left the three-hour tour inspired and empowered to make more sustainable choices,” Scarlette Tapp, the SFC’s executive director told Home News Now, adding that seeing and hearing about these stories in person also left them knowing what questions to ask about sustainability when visiting other showrooms at market.
Julie Grant and David Weiss of Porter Designs, seated on the edge of the sofa, take questions from Angie Kenny of the Sustainable Furnishings Council during the Sustainability Tour.
...
At Porter Designs, the sustainability story lies in its use of eco-friendly materials in its upholstery line. This includes fabrics that are made from recycled plastic bottles, part of an ongoing relationship with Repreve and Culp, which supply the sustainable materials and finished product.
Julie Grant and David Weiss of Porter Designs, seated on the edge of the sofa, take questions from Angie Kenny of the Sustainable Furnishings Council during the Sustainability Tour.
Those in attendance on the Sustainability Tour were curious to learn more, from ways they could display the sustainability story on their retail floors, to asking for video presentations and other marketing materials to help tell the story to their customers.
“It was just fun,” said Julie Grant, Porter Designs’ marketing director, of the tour. “We explained the whole story and people asked good questions. Unfortunately, there seems to be a divide between people who are passionate about it and those who don’t care.”
David Weiss, president, said that the company has received strong feedback for its approach to sustainability.
“The group was very complimentary about our speed and depth of development and said that we have taken it further than anybody that they have seen,” he said. “Which was nice because there is some genuine apathy out there, which is a downer.”
The SFC plans to continue helping member companies spread the message, as similar tours are planned in the future. The next one is planned for the October market when the organization will bring buyers to showrooms in a different neighborhood at market.
You can read the full article here: https://homenewsnow.com/blog/2023/05/19/lowering-the-carbon-footprint/