When it comes to Workplace Interiors – durability and safety is of the upmost importance, alongside of course appearance. What’s amazing is that all of this can be achieved very beautifully by using cruelty free alternatives.

This delivers a great opportunity for companies alongside experts (like us) to create beautiful spaces and environments that will stand out from their competitors not only visually, but also ethically.

The materials to try and avoid whenever possible are wool, leather, feathers, down, silk and fur.

Alternatives?

So, what are the alternatives to the most commonly used materials in Interior Design? Let’s take a brief look at just some of these materials and their practical alternatives.

Wool – Did you know that wool’s unique texture and scent can be easily replicated with long lasting non – wool alternatives? Which believe it or not are made from…recycled plastic bottles, 100% recycled yarn or backing.
Kvadrat – a textile manufacturer and internationally renowned and progressive design company,  use a specific recycled yarn called REPREVE and they have been excited to put it into use with their innovative Revive textile.
www.kvadrat.dk

What about leather?

The production of leather has a direct affect on the environment, not to mention the ethical issues attached. In 2009 a seminal Greenpeace report entitled, ‘Slaughtering the Amazon’ made a direct connection between leather and the environment. What’s amazing is that without compromise we can choose to use Faux leather, and the benefits are impossible to ignore:

• Faux leather looks as stylish, classy and charming as real leather.
• Faux leather performs just as well over time that real leather.
• Faux leather is more cost effective.
• The production of faux leather does not contribute to animal cruelty.

Real leather is assumed “natural” because it’s an animal skin. What’s often ignored is that the process of making leather is very unnatural. The process is full of toxic chemicals that are extremely harmful to our planet, the manufacturers and also the end consumers.

In 2018 technology has developed so much, that materials manufactured by such cruel means seem outdated.

The truth is that our preference towards materials that negatively affect our environment is not a necessity, it is a habit. A habit that we can break by keeping ourselves informed and through making the right choices. The choice to contribute towards a cleaner, healthier and more ethically sound planet. The choice to be humane to both humans and animals.

The most amazing part to all of this is that these choices can be made without needing to compromise visually or stylistically.

So the question becomes… why wouldn’t we make the better choice?