Fast furniture: what’s wrong with it and 7 ways to make better choices (for you and the planet)

It wasn’t so long ago (certainly within my lifetime) that we bought furniture to last. Dining tables and sofas would have a place in our homes for decades, many handed down through generations. They were a part of our lives and embedded in our fondest memories. It was a time when we used to place value on our furniture, because it HAD value. And the reason it had value was because the people who made it placed value on the materials and workmanship. And because we valued it we looked after it. And if our furniture broke we fixed it, whether it was a new coat of varnish or new upholstery. And we did this again and again until we couldn’t squeeze any more life out of it. But things were much slower then, and people cared more.

Sadly, today most of the furniture available to us is cheap, mass-produced and low quality, designed to be disposable, because that’s the kind of society we live in now — one that consumes a lot and throws away a lot, all under the label of ‘convenience’. Everything has to be convenient because we’re so busy. It can’t possibly be any other way.

Life in the fast lane seems to be the modus operandi for most people. We always seem to be rushing around, and usually going for the cheaper and more convenient option. Fast furniture is yet…