In every issue, we round up the latest eco, sustainable and environmentally conscious homewares and ideas.
Compiled by Anna Turns
Sleep easy
Sleep well with two new companies who make bedding more environmentally friendly, above and below the covers. The fillings for the new Free & Easy Elite Collection of mattresses by fifth-generation bed manufacturer Harrison Spinks are sustainably sourced and contain ‘Ecopads’ made from recycled plastic. This Yorkshire-based company, first established in 1840, operates on an almost 100% vertically integrated basis, producing most components needed to make their beds themselves. They farm their own sheep and alpacas, and grow hemp and flax that are used as mattress fillings, plus they have their own responsibly-managed forest where they fell the timber for headboards and make their own springs using steel rod from British Steel.
And Urban Collective’s new collection of recycled wool throws are made from saved raw materials and bamboo and cotton bedlinen in muted shades: ‘It is not only about organic or recycled materials. Sustainability reaches all the way from production to social responsibility, it is about being long term in everything you create and making sure you do that in a way that is fair and good,’ says Karl Lindhe, brand director.
Eco storage
Cornish designer Helen Round has crafted a new range of reusable linen homeware products, using a combination of soft, sustainable bamboo and pure linen off cuts. Inspired by her own desire to reduce waste and with demand from her eco-conscious customer base, she is excited to launch the ECO Collection that includes fabric storage pots and linen soap bags: ‘As a business we are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint. We already recycle and reuse as much as possible, sending any of our smaller fabric scraps to local schools for crafting projects and reusing all the packaging we receive, so this collection is a wonderful opportunity to use our studio off cuts of linen fabric,’ says Helen.
Sea Blind
The new PVC-free Sea-Tex blinds from Style Studio use recycled shoreline plastic, recovered from coastlines and inland waterways, to create a long-lasting high performance roller blind fabric. The Greenscreen Sea-Tex range is the UK’s first window blind using recycled plastic sea waste and can be made-to-measure in five neutral shades. Once recovered, plastic bottles are cleverly processed and spun into Bionic® yarn that makes up 50% of the fabric’s weight.
Style Studio’s Lorna McAleer says ‘These blinds put the durability of plastic to great use – a PET plastic bottle takes around 450 years to degrade; much better to use this material to help to deliver light control and privacy in a home than it destroy our sealife.’
Pattern in place
With fresh, clean geometric patterns fundamental to their design, MAiK’s summer collection of placemats and coasters bring a contemporary splash of colour to table displays. Launched in 2016 by Cat Thorogood, MAiK (a Scottish term meaning ‘equal’) was founded with the ambition to offer beautiful pieces that have been made both ethically and responsibly. Her brand’s exclusive prints are designed in-house and each item is carefully crafted in the Edinburgh studio.
Committed to responsible manufacturing, MAiK incorporate sustainable practices into every aspect of the business, from the sustainable sourcing of FSC certified wood and organic cotton to plastic-free packaging and honest pricing.
See more in our current issue, out now.