NEWS
Interior design
© Grigory Bruev – stock.adobe.com
Overexploitation of the planet’s resources, large amounts of waste, exploited labor…furniture and decorative elements quickly bought, quickly thrown away, represent a scourge in the same way as disposable fashion.
Great damage to the environment and shameless exploitation of workers: the destruction of fast fashion they are now well known. But the fashion sector is not the only culprit. Interior decoration also has its share of disastrous consequences, as recently condemned by Zero Waste France, Friends of the Earth and the National Resource and Recycling Network.
Noting that the covid period favored huge investments in the design of our interiors, this observation is supported by impressive figures: between 2017 and 2022, the number of pieces of furniture put on the market in France increased by 88%, from 269 to 505 million units. Online sales alone grew by 53% between 2019 and 2021, according to a study by the Economic Daily Echoes. Among the most commonly purchased items are candles, most of which are scented versions, However, we have long discouraged their use.
© Studio Porto Sabbia – stock.adobe.com
Constant new collections
Fast fashion and fast decorating rest on the same principles, the authors of the report emphasize, and especially on the astronomical quantities that are put on the market at low prices and quick renewal of collections. Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Mother’s Day or simply the change of season (3000 new items every year at Maisons du Monde!), so many opportunities to encourage people to buy items that we don’t always need.
Like fast fashion, fast decoration brings collections through the seasons
While a piece of furniture or a decorative element served its purpose for decades, and was often passed down from generation to generation, disposability has become the rule here as well. A number of brands that initially specialized in clothing, such as H&M, Zara, La Redoute and Shein, also dropped their offerings in the home sector.
© Robert – stock.adobe.com
Excessive use of wood
But, like clothes, all these items are most often produced in countries where the workforce is forced to work. In terms of environmental impact, the overexploitation of wood is the most dramatic consequence attributable to this sector, as shown in the documentary Ikea, lord of the forest, available on arte.tv. Not forgetting that items such as pillows, blankets or even curtains include the same damage to the environment as clothing : use of pesticides and significant water consumption for cotton, extraction of oil resources and ocean pollution for synthetic materials. Another point in common: resource centers are experiencing a significant decline in the quality of furniture, which threatens their reuse.
© Arte.tv
The end of life of these facilities also greatly contributes to their impact on the environment. As for unused furniture, less than half are collected dedicated sector and only 45% of this collection is recycled, and the rest goes to incineration or landfill. Reuse, for its part, is hampered by the fact that associations do not always have the means to collect or the necessary storage space and the lack of financial resources allocated to them. As for the decorative elements, which do not benefit from the sector responsible for organizing their end of life, they most often end up in the incinerator. The establishment of such a sector is one of the demands of associations, as well as support for reuse and repair.