work | ethical sourcing and design
- Haley
- Nov 9, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Jan 11
How do I approach ethical sourcing and design in my home furnishings product design and strategy work?
-Longevity and Quality Matters: Create products with longevity in mind, ensuring they can be handed down, repaired, or re-sold because they are of such high quality.
-Less is More: Create the right products instead of more products.
-Prioritize Handmade Production: Handmade production naturally has less of an environmental impact than industrial production and is typically created from time tested techniques that were made to have longevity.
-Natural Materials: Use natural materials over synthetic. Organic, responsibly, and locally sourced whenever possible.
-Chemical-Free: Steer clear of harmful chemicals at every stage (dying, staining, finishing, etc.). This not only benefits consumers but also safeguards the environment and the well-being of producers.
-Fair Wages: Everyone involved in the supply chain is paid fair wages.
-Environmental Responsibility: Minimizing our environmental impact as much as possible (this can and will be a separate post but on a high level this includes creating quality products that won’t end up in a landfill, handmade production that uses less energy, using organic and natural materials, sourcing all components of the product locally, not using harmful chemicals that will end up in the local water and soil, etc.)
-Accountability and Certification: Collaborating with retailers, brands, and artisans that are measuring and transparently communicating their ethical, responsible, and sustainable practices and seek certifications to validate these practices wherever possible.
These principles continually evolve as I remain committed to learning and improving.
