Re-upholstery or Re-covering Furniture IS Recycling

Latest government figures say we in the UK send more than half our waste to landfill. That is a huge 62 million tonnes a year in England alone. Now the aim is to reduce landfill by at least 50% over the next 10 years.

In Britain alone, 10 million unbroken pieces of furniture end up in landfill sites*. One solution to this problem is to reupholster furniture rather than replace it. Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, says “ We can’t keep… putting it in holes in the ground... it’s producing greenhouse gases which are contributing to a problem we have to solve, we are throwing away things that have a value. We’ve been living in a 50-year bubble in which we thought we could throw away things without regard to the consequences. It’s got to change.”

Plumbs encourages its customers to keep their old sofas and give them a new look via reupholstery, or loose covers. Over 95% of all furniture styles can be covered or reupholstered including Parker Knoll, Multiyork, Cintique, Parker & Farr, Sofa Workshop, G Plan and M&S.

Plumbs is sponsoring a national campaign encouraging people to keep their furniture, rather than discard it. Established in February 2009, ‘Save Our Sofas’ or ‘S.O.S’ encourages customers to re-use, recycle or refurbish their old furniture to help reduce the nation’s carbon footprint. The campaign also asks customers to look for quality when purchasing a new sofa, and to buy British.

The Furniture Re-use Network (FRN), established in 1989, is the national organisation responsible for 400 furniture re-use and recycling organisations throughout the UK that pass on unwanted furniture to those in need.

Many local councils are now also actively involved and have set up their own schemes. Plumbs promotes the refurbishment and re-use of household furniture, achieving social, economic and environmental benefits.

In January 2009, the Plumb family purchased 2 acres of land and filled it with 1000 trees, demonstrating its’ commitment to the environment. *References ITV television, November 2009

Author: Chris Plumb  | 19/01/10   |   Environment  |   Plumbs  |   Re-Upholstery  |