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ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLNESS
16 Jet McQueen: “Can a
monster industry pivot
towards environmental
friendliness?” In the last nine months I have visited many a design show. I have been hunting
for a variety of reasons, but chief among them I’ve been looking for ways in
which I can see the industry shift towards more eco-friendly alternative sources
and materials.

I am disappointed to report that we are not
moving as fast as we need to on this. Yes,
there are plenty of recycled or upcycled
items. Plastics are being morphed into wall
surfacing treatments, Old clothing is being
recycled into carpets, Quarrying stones and
marble is being replaced by Porcelain tiles
and countertops, Natural fibres are beginning
to be sourced in more local areas. This all
sounds very good…except that when you
investigate the products there are several
drawbacks. Namely – Quality, Consistency,
Selection, Cost, and Credentials.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. The
fact is none of the products I viewed would
be considered “first choice” selections if I
were working on a design. They just aren’t
nice enough, good enough, eco-friendly
enough….and that really does matter. These
environmentally friendly materials might be
selected if a client briefed that all contents
in their design MUST be green. But in any
other brief, they would never make it into the
preferred source list. These substitutes just
don’t feel, look, or perform well enough to
hold their own next to the other non-GREEN
options. And that’s just not going to do it for the
clients who care enough about aesthetics
that they’ve hired an Interior Designer.

I have clients who are willing to spend more
on an environmentally positive item that
they love, but I am yet to meet a client who
stands by their desire to be Green with such
conviction that they are willing to select an
inferior material for the protection of the
environment. Recognizing this dilemma is
important! Until the industry accepts that
most people will not compromise their
desires for a principle, it won’t recognize
that it’s up to us to deliver an acceptable
alternative. As an industry we need to move as
quickly as possible to a point where the
Environmentally friendly products on the
market are as good as, or better than the
other options. It takes only one green vendor
to reach a point of preference, for all other
vendors to move to meet them. For every
preferred green product (in cost, quality, and
consistency) would eliminate the desire for
any non- environmental product completely
shifting the paradigm and the industry.

It was clear by walking through the Design
& Surface show in February, that suppliers
know that they need to be seen on an
environmentally friendly platform, and that
this is what clients (aka Designers) want to
see. Stall after stall, each vendor promoted
their Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose platform,
and it was evident that we have reached the
Marketing phase of “GREEN”. The front of
each mat highlighted products presented as
planet-happy revolutionising solutions.

This extended from carpets through to
cleaning solutions, sustainable sourcing
of organic materials like marble, through
to organic paints and recycled and sorted
demolition techniques and machinery which
is changing the way old buildings are sorted
between rubbish and recyclable items.

If you looked at the shell of this event, the
result feels like a positive step-change
towards a happy planet and responsible
industry…. But below the surface the reality
is a little murkier. If we magnify into the
details, what we are really being confronted
with is a front-facing promotion of a singular
product “star” that has some redeeming
level of GREEN credentials. This NEW star is
being represented to increase the supplier’s
credibility as a green source provider.

Looking deeper at the supplier’s product line,
90% of the remaining products these vendors
sell are not green, and their sales teams are
quick to move you onto these products. This
directly correlates with the volume of sales
they generate when you ask about “best
sellers”. And so,… we are back to the catch
22, where until the environmentally friendly,
and carbon neutral products improve,
clients won’t switch. When clients don’t buy,
the suppliers invest less on the expansion
of the range and the green offer remains
underdeveloped and uncompetitive against
the mainstream offer.

There are some innovative things coming
forward to be excited about, and I was
particularly encouraged by the number of
vendors trying to work through solutions for
recycled plastics. Although I am yet to be fully
convinced by the look of recycled plastics for
rugs, throws and blankets, I was impressed
by the softness that can be achieved by
processing these recyclable materials. We use
fabrics in so many items in our homes and
lives that this could be a real game changer



01604 495 151
sales@collingwoodgroup.com collingwoodlighting.com
ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLNESS
17 for the planet. My hope is that technology
and innovation will provide us with amazing
alternatives for future products.

Before we get out our pompoms ready for
a cheer, I think it’s important to get out our
magnifying glass and look at the details in
full. While we should celebrate the use of
recycled plastics, we need to remember
that just because a product employs a
recycled element does not make it the
Holy grail for the planet. Many of the toted
“environmentally friendly” products still have
a lot of unfriendly features that vendors are
less keen to discuss.

A truly green item needs to consider a lot
more than just its ability to recycle a waste
item. Where many green products come
unstuck is in the processing and logistics
carbon footprint. For example, soft furnishing
fabrics and recycled products fall below
par on their green credentials because of
their use of harmful dyes, alongside the
deconstruction processing which uses
harmful chemicals and excessive heat. To
add to this processing generally utilises vast
amounts of water which becomes waste. As
if to add insult to injury, many have a terrible
carbon footprint with recycled items being
flown from one location, to be processed in
another, and woven in yet another and then
finally delivered to the locations around the
world. While finding solutions to one waste problem
is commendable, it is harder to rubber
stamp or justify these efforts when new
problems in another area of environmental
concern are caused. It is an end-to-end
environmental solution that envelops a truly
Green product, and companies who can
comply with this comprehensive approach to
friendly products need to be encouraged and
potentially funded to fuel the development.

Perhaps future Green products need to
be government regulated and approved
so that they may be coded to effectively
communicate the level of environmental
consideration they have in all aspects
from design to consumer. Afterall, even the
government inadvertently adds to some of
the non-green features such as the coatings
required on fabrics for fire guard.

There is hope!
I don’t want you to be too discouraged by
my recent explorations. While there were
fewer solutions and products than what I was
hoping to find …, there were also some very
positive signs. The fact is, ten years ago no
one was taking the time to promote GREEN.

Now having a Green platform is seen as an
essential part of a company ethos. To me,
this suggests that in future we will see more
dedication towards the development of truly
amazing environmentally positive products
that are sustainable and responsible –
beyond just the surface promotion of a
singular product offer.

Awareness The fact that most vendors are aware that
GREEN is the demand the market is after
means that they also know this is the way
forward. It suggests that they are investing
not just in marketing, but we should assume
they are also investing in developing better
green technologies, processes and ultimately
products. Changing any industry (no less
an aesthetic one) is often slow and it can be
costly. Preferential products and demand for
them are the key to making the fastest shifts.

Vendors will move their offer to where the
money is being spent, and so the more
clients with Green principles willing to put the
money behind their planet friendly intent, the
more products we will see come forward. In
this, it is a combination of factors to consider,
but as we see the climate change we are
aware that Green products are a need and
not a want.

What can you do?
To you, I say…”keep diving deeper and
beyond the green product being promoted
to you, look at its development and planet
credentials (processing and the logistics
journey). Want more than just a label, want
to know what it has gone through to morph
into its latest iteration. Keep looking and
demanding “Green” and hopefully the next
Design-led show I search through will yield
some market leading results that I can share
with you on the next design brief.