The climate impact of the furniture industry will be addressed at Möbelmässan Gothenburg.
– To retain customers, furniture companies need to be transparent. With everything, says Maria Soxbo, a committed journalist and author who lectures on climate and interior design at the fair.
The responsibility of furniture companies for a sustainable future is an important part of the content programme at Möbelmässan Gothenburg, 16-18 September.
– I want to talk about new consumption patterns and show exhibitors what they should consider, says Maria Soxbo, who has written extensively about interior design and the climate and has published several books on sustainability.
She is also the co-founder of the Climate Club, with 40,000 followers on Instagram, open to anyone who wants to get involved in the issue.
Customers are becoming more informed
Maria encourages furniture companies to think about circularity, not least to retain their customers. To influence and make conscious choices about everything from raw material purchases to processing, manufacturing processes, logistics and transport.
– I will be talking a lot about this at the Furniture Fair, she says.
– Consumers of the future are becoming increasingly well-informed, careful and inquisitive. Therefore, it benefits companies enormously to be transparent about everything. Showing openly how they are working to reduce their climate impact and thus building credibility.
She wants companies to explain, for their own sake and for the sake of the climate, exactly where the raw materials come from, how they manufacture, how they work to reduce waste, and how they recycle materials that cannot be reused.
– All these things are important. There are bound to be tougher regulatory requirements in all areas in the future, so smart companies are doing the job now.
Offer reconditioning!
Climate-conscious consumers also want to be able to keep a piece of furniture for as long as possible once they buy it.
– Companies need to make this easier. For example, by getting good at offering spare parts, explaining how to take care of the furniture so that it lasts and also offering furniture reconditioning – such as reupholstering and re-screwing.
Maria believes that this type of offer can be a competitive advantage.
– I also think that companies should be better at offering second hand. If you have made quality furniture, you can offer to buy it, fix it up and then sell it a second time.
Wants to see producer responsibility
To eliminate the opposite, i.e. furniture that breaks easily and doesn’t last long – and at the same time to increase quality awareness – Maria Soxbo wants to see increased requirements placed on the industry.
– Manufacturers should take responsibility, among other things, for ensuring that the furniture can be repaired. This is where politics needs to step in and protect consumers. I would like to see tougher regulatory instruments and legislation.
Short-lived trends – a problem
The desire to do a make-over from time to time, redecorate, change kitchens, change colour schemes in the home is strong among many consumers. In other words, the short-term perspective: out with the old, in with the new. How do you see it?
– This is definitely a problem. Interior design trends are moving faster and faster, just like clothing fashions, Maria says.
She points to consumer surveys that show that interior design is the category in which people misjudge their own behaviour the most. In other words, we buy more interior design than we think, we simply over-consume.
– As consumers, we need to practise contentment instead of renewed consumption.
– If we are happy in our home, it doesn’t really matter that the trend says the kitchen should be green instead of grey. A home is built for life, not for a season.
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