Traditional carving techniques add an element of individuality to solid hardwood furniture. Many companies are striving to have ranges that are clinically consistent, avoiding the issues with varying quality that are often associated with handmade furniture pieces.

With advancements in furniture design it is now possible to have hand crafted individual features within a cabinet which is consistent in both dimensions and quality. The hand carved elements are brought into places where they are focal, rather than structural. By utilising clever design hand carving and other traditional craft skills are being saved from extinction.

An example of this can be found in one of Myakka’s best selling pieces the Thakat Elephant Cupboard where the doors are made up of six individually hand carved elephants. Produced in India following Fair Trade principles the solid Sheesham wood cupboards have been so popular they are being made into a range for 2010.

“The craftsman use traditional tools and techniques to hand carve the elephants into solid pieces of Sheesham wood. It is a skill we are helping retain by creating furniture that is really popular here in the UK. Fair Trade is even more powerful if you can create products that the UK market really want to buy,” commented Georgie Hopkins – Director, Myakka

The hand carved designs combine beautifully with the natural pattern of the timber to create unique pieces of furniture that are consistent in quality and operation.

“The way we meet with our stringent quality control and still add hand carved details into pieces is through the clever integration of man and machine. By using the machines in the production of the furniture carcases we can guarantee consistency in the dimensions of the pieces.” Commented Simon Whitehead – Director, Myakka

For more information images and a video about the process behind the production of the Thakat Elephant Cupboard please follow this address to Myakka’s blog:

http://furniture-home.myakka.co.uk/

Myakka is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

A trip around one of the biggest trade shows for the furniture industry left me aghast last month at the lack of interest, product lines or even marketing towards sustainable design or production.

In 4 halls of the NEC, I spotted one small sign for PEFC timber and just two companies selling products made with the planet in mind – one of those was a Portuguese company over here for the first time.

One other company handed out free bags to entrants advertising special ‘trade show’ deals. One such deal offered an upholstered dining chair covered in ‘eco leather’ selling at a trade price of £42.99! As a retailer of recycled leather and knowing the prices involved I was intrigued to find more. I spoke at length to one of the sales people who was surprisingly knowledgeable about the recycled leather he was selling. The product was indeed waste off-cuts from hides used in the tanning industry that were headed for landfill. This waste product was then shredded to form fibres, which were then bonded back together and given a PVC coating for durability. This is in fact how recycled leather is made and it has environmental credentials because it diverts a waste product from landfill. I enquired about the sales for this particular product. Recycled leather cannot be sold as ‘leather’ because it is classed as bonded fabric and so it has a lower price point. That is the reason for any sales made – i.e. lower price points!

Speaking later with the one FSC certified company in the whole show, they had received a great deal of interest. Their stand was suitably decorated with a large overhead hoarding depicting the great work that their chosen charity Tree Aid was doing in the third world. The FSC logo was clearly visible and many people stopped to ask about the bedroom ranges on offer. The reaction from the industry however was incredulity. What was this FSC logo all about? How do you expect to compete with prices that are so high? I can buy that bed frame for my shop for half the price in another hall! Once again price point is king!

Interestingly, when I spoke at length with the Portuguese company, whose business ethos was built around sustainable design and production, they informed me that on the Sunday, during public access, their stand had been extremely busy, but that interest had waned during the trade only days.

Perhaps it would be wise for those doing the purchasing in the furniture trade, to read up a little about how the products are made and the impact those products are having on the planet. In addition they might want to check if the consumers give a damn, I think they could be surprised.

Gecco Interiors Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

In Association with Warren Evans and Supported by the FSC UK

8th – 21st February

Wood you… like to sleep with a clear conscience in a beautiful handcrafted wooden bed built from responsibly managed forests? Now you can this February with Feel Good Wood Fortnight.

Award winning bed and sleep specialist Warren Evans has launched the inaugural Feel Good Wood Fortnight, supported by the Forest Stewardship Council UK (FSC UK), a registered charity that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.

The Fortnight, which runs from 8th-21st February, highlights the many benefits of buying responsible forestry products, and aims to encourage more consumers to invest in sustainable products for their home and beyond.

Here are just five reasons why you should look for the distinctive FSC logo when buying wooden products:

1. FSC certified forests are cared for and managed with consideration to people, wildlife and the environment, so you can buy with a clear conscience
2. The FSC protects the rights of all indigenous people who live and use the forest where the wood is harvested
3. The FSC is the only wood certification scheme in the world that is supported by major environmental charities including The Woodland Trust, the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace
4. All FSC certified wood is tracked from the forest to the store and carries the identifiable FSC symbol so consumers know that the wooden product they are investing in does not have a negative impact on the environment
5. Forest owners are committed to using only locally sourced labour, and to providing fair working conditions and a decent salary for all workers.

Warren Evans is proud to be the first bed maker in the UK to be FSC certified, having gained the prestigious certification for his handcrafted beds in 2007.

Zoe Robinson, Sustainable Development Manager at Warren Evans, says: “Since inception, Warren has ensured that the wood he uses does not have a negative impact on the environment. And as such, he works exclusively in FSC certified pine. We do hope that this event will become the first of many.”

Warren’s dedication to the environment and to his customers has earned him six influential awards including an Observer Ethical Award, a Sunday Times Best Green Companies Award, a BCE Award and most recently a Growing Business Award.

Rosie Teasdale, Deputy Director at the FSC UK, adds: “We are pleased to support this Feel Good Wood Fortnight, raising awareness of FSC and the importance of sourcing responsibly.  Consumers tend to associate the FSC logo with garden furniture more than household furniture and promotions such as these help to highlight the range of FSC products now available.”

Warren Evans’ official FSC number is SA-COC-1742.

www.warrenevans.com & www.fsc-uk.org

Warren Evans has triumphed at The Growing Business Awards 2009. The award winning bed retailer was named Green Business of the Year 2009.

The London-based bespoke bed maker business beat stiff competition from E-Stack, Good Energy, pall-Ex and Wiles Greenworld to win the Green Business of the Year category.

The Growing Business Awards, organised by Caspian Publishing, celebrates the best entrepreneurial and business talent in the UK. The awards are judged by leading business figures including Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis, John Caudwell, founder of Phones4U and Sir Andrew Cahn, chief executive of UKTI.

Warren Evans, founder and designer, is delighted at the win. He says: “It’s an honour to be named the greenest business in the UK. We are constantly looking at new and innovative ways to make the business as sustainable as possible. Over the past three years, we have invested in innovative low energy appliances for our workshop and our stores, working in conjunction with Envirowise, The Carbon Trust and Business Link. We’re thrilled to win this award.”

This is the third award this year for Warren Evans – earlier this year, they also picked up a Sunday Times Best Green Companies Award and an Observer Ethical Award.

Sustainability has been at the heart of Warren’s philosophy since he established the company over 30 years ago. And over the past three years, Warren has worked hard to ensure that measurable changes are made in store and to his team’s day-to-day working practices to minimise the impact that his business has on the environment. These include:

• Moving to a new and unique sustainable workshop, With help from an interest-free loan by the Carbon Trust, Warren was able to make this super green by purchasing environmentally friendly equipment including a bio-mass boiler and intelligent wood cutting machinery to minimise waste
• Consulting Government green body ‘Envirowise’ and government funded service Business Link for practical advice on efficiencies such as workflow, machinery and gaining staff support
• Avoiding packaging; Warren only wraps his beds and furniture in reusable blankets rather than cardboards or plastics, minimising unnecessary waste
• Signing up to pioneering carbon management schemes, including London Green500 and the 10:10 Initiative
• He is still the only bed maker in the UK to be officially certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which means that all beds and furniture are made using wood from renewable sources 
• All staff uniforms are also fair-trade; Warren ensures that all t-shirts are made from organic cotton, while the fleeces are made from recycled material
• Only using recycled stationery, including envelopes made from elephant poo!

 This has resulted in:

• Office recycling increasing by 50%
• Water usage reduced by 38%
• Disposals reduced by 5%

 The awards ceremony was held on Thursday evening at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London, with Warren Evans receiving the prize from award sponsors Stephen Pegge of high street bank Lloyds TSB and Julie Meyer of Ariadne Capital.

For interviews with Warren Evans or images please contact Sophia at PR4 on 020 7637 1237 or Sophia@pr4.com.

Warren Evans is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Gecco Interiors, a new online environmentally friendly interiors company has launched with a full collection of products for the home. In addition to being beautifully designed in mind, each of the products sold by Gecco also helps preserve the planet.

Founders Angie and James Kraft pride themselves on sourcing products
that are genuinely stylish but also environmentally friendly.
Passionate about green issues and sustainability in design, they have
sourced a range of home interiors products that all have green
credentials.

Each item sold online has been created by
entrepreneurs who have had the courage and vision to look at their
industry and to try to do things differently. This may come in the form
of taking timbers from derelict factories in India and turning them
into beautiful pieces of furniture, a four year long research project
into the use of stinging nettles in upholstery fabric, or it may even
be the massive financial investment in a purpose built factory in
Stoke-on-Trent, where broken ceramic pottery is crushed and turned into
new ceramic bathroom tiles.The team at Gecco Interiors sources only the
best products designed to appeal to stylish eco-conscious consumers.

The site is easily navigated and broken down into seven sections:

1. Furniture – beautifully handcrafted and made from reclaimed timber
2. Curtains and blinds – made to order and hand finished with exclusive soft organic bamboo lining
3. Floor coverings – made from recycled materials
4. Fabric – using leading edge, organic and sustainable textiles
5. Lighting – elegant collection of the most up-to-date energy efficient lighting
6. Wall coverings – FSC certified wallpapers with natural dyes and non-toxic paints
7. Accessories – perfect for adding the finishing touches to an eco-friendly design scheme

www.geccointeriors.co.uk

ITV’s popular show ‘60 Minute Makeover’ features fair trade Indian furniture.  With just 60 minutes to turn a home from drab to dazzling, Myakka’s British designed Indian solid wood furniture has proved a winner for the interior designers in seven episodes of the new series.

For those unfamiliar with the show, 60 Minute Makeover challenges top interior designers to update and upgrade the decor of three rooms in a house in just an hour (not including the all important tea break!), with work beginning and ending at the blow of a whistle.

Richard Randall’s transformation of Terry and Richard’s house in Surrey was aired on ITV on Monday 21^st September.  The two unsuspecting homeowners’ lounge looked fabulous with furniture from Myakka’s Khimsar range.  The lighter colour of the Acacia solid hardwood furniture combined with a cream suite from Harvey’s and oak wall decoration to create a relaxing and neutral ambience.  Perfect for Richard to unwind in preparation for one of Terry’s massages in her new treatment room!

Jackie and Chris spend all their time caring for their daughter in Swanley, Kent.  They were the unsuspecting recipients of a 60 Minute Makeover, an episode which was aired on 30^th September.  Interior designer Kathryn Rayward transformed Jackie and Chris’s home with furniture from Myakka’s sleek and contemporary Mallani range.  It just shows that great looking furniture can be good value, versatile and fair trade.

Georgie Hopkins, director for Myakka comments, “The interior designers have a tough job to complete the transformations in just an hour. We were delighted to have our furniture selected for seven of the 60 Minute Makeover shows.  It’s great exposure for our brand and encourages people to think about the sourcing of products in their home.”

The shows can be watched online through the ‘ITV Player’ for the coming weeks. See http://www.itv.com/ or http://www.myakka.co.uk/ for more information.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day
sees the launch of a new collection of antique and vintage wooden chests
and boxes. Finding an old wooden chest is not just for pirates like
Captain Jack Sparrow. Although most will not be used to store a pirate’s
booty, an old chest complements a contemporary or traditional interior
and an ideal storage solution for the most fanatical hoarders. 

The new collection of old wooden chests
range from small vintage shaving boxes, to stationery boxes, to large
authentic brass bound colonial teak chests. Each has been meticulously
restored by skilled craftsmen to ensure it can be used for many years
to come. Each piece is different in style. Many have secret compartments,
some faded painted finishes; others have beautiful brass bindings and
edging. The solid tropical hardwood construction and classic styling
gives each piece a unique instant heirloom status. 

Carl Morenikeji, founder of Scaramanga,
said: ‘Our wooden chests and trunks were originally used as merchants’
valuables and cash storage boxes or family storage chests, so some may
have seen action on the high-seas. We haven’t found any treasure or
old maps in any yet, but we have found some old coins in some of the
secret compartments. Nowadays an old wooden chest has so many uses ranging
from keeping jewellery to storing blankets and linen; and they make
perfect memory boxes.  

Scaramanga  ( www.scaramangashop.co.uk ) is a young business based in Fife, Scotland
specialising in supplying stylish vintage fashion accessories and interiors.
Ranging from antique wooden chests and trunks, old kitchen cabinets
and cupboards to vintage styled leather satchels and messenger bags.
Scaramanga sources individual items which are exclusive to the company,
so customers can rest assured their accessories and home furnishings
are one of a kind.  

Scaramanga’s old wooden chests and
boxes range in price from £25 to £650. They are available exclusively
online at www.scaramangashop.co.uk or at Scaramanga’s Gateside Mills store. Customers
who place an order in pirate-like speak will be sent a free leather
journal. 

Massive Summer bag & accessory sale is now on…

50% off all stock

please note: NO MINIMUM WHOLESALE ORDER

To celebrate Myakka’s 10th Birthday, our biggest ever summer sale from Friday 7th August, with between 10% and 60% off absolutely everything!   In addition, our warehouse clearance starts on Saturday 8th August.  We’ve got some amazing prices on customer returns and clearance furniture, available exclusively at our Warehouse Outlet in Wincanton, Somerset.  Doors open at 10am and it’s strictly first come, first served so arrive early for the best bargains!

Over the past ten years we have proved that doing business
ethically pays, especially in the last twelve months with the tougher
economic environment.  Myakka has grown into one of the UK’s leading
furniture and home accessories retailers. We follow Fair Trade
principles as a member of BAFTS the British Association of Fair Trade
Shops.

“We created Myakka 10 years ago and it has been an
exciting journey to where we are today. We are proud of what Myakka has
become and what it stands for.  Here’s to the next decade, Happy
Birthday Myakka!” commented Georgie Hopkins, Director.

Read more about the good work Myakka has done during their 10th Birthday year by selecting this link:  Myakka’s 10th Birthday Year 

The Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) is pleased to announce it is evolving to maximise its effectiveness in improving the lives of tea workers and assuring its members’ supply chains.

The ETP is an international non-competitive alliance of 20 tea packers who share a vision of a thriving industry that is socially just and environmentally sustainable. The new approach will see the ETP build on its long-standing estate monitoring work by establishing new relationships with certification programmes, governments, NGOs, and other specialists to deliver increased social and environmental improvements.

One significant driver of this increased effectiveness is that the ETP
will no longer monitor any tea estate which has achieved certification
status from Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade or UTZ CERTIFIED. Avoiding
duplication in this way will reduce the audit burden on tea producers
and enable the ETP to concentrate its resources on producers that are
not currently being monitored by certification programmes.

ETP’s
co-operation with certification programmes will help streamline the
certification process for tea estates and increase the speed at which
tea from certified producers enters the market. If an ETP member is
interested in part of their supply chain becoming certified and the tea
estate is interested in certification, the ETP will now work with the
producer and certification body in question to achieve this as
efficiently as possible.

“Co-operation amongst environmental and
social standards systems is essential if they are to fulfil their
potential in scaling up critical environmental and social impacts.
ETP’s collaboration with independent third-party certification systems
and the fact that it brings together such a large proportion of the tea
industry gives it the potential to enable significant change in the tea
sector”. Sasha Courville, Executive Director, ISEAL Alliance.

ETP’s
social and environmental improvement work will be underpinned by its
new global monitoring standard. This is being rolled out across estates
that supply ETP members and are not involved in any certification
programmes.  It covers key elements of all the relevant certification
programmes, which will help ease the transition for any producers who
become interested in certification at a later date.  ETP’s monitoring
remains free to producers.

The ETP plans to increase its work on
the ground with government departments, NGOs, UN bodies, and technical
specialists, on projects designed to help producers make practical and
sustainable improvements, in particular to the lives of their workers.
New capacity building partnerships will continue the ETP’s track record
of bringing about improvements in a wide range of areas, including
market access, living and working conditions  and health and safety.

Leading
the ETP into the next exciting stage of its development is new
Executive Director Sarah Roberts who has a background in development
work and multi-stakeholder partnerships. Sarah is supported by a team
in the UK and a network of Regional Managers based in India, China, Sri
Lanka, Kenya, and Indonesia. These are local people with wide ranging
experience of the tea sector, development skills and enabling
sustainable change.

“The ETP has the potential to make a
difference at scale, rather than just on the margins. With its 12 years
of experience, detailed first-hand knowledge of the tea sector and
continual engagement with producers, the ETP is uniquely placed to
drive sustained change within the tea sector.

I am looking
forward to building on the many practical improvements that the ETP has
already brought about, from resolving tricky labour issues in East
Africa and Sri Lanka to health and safety improvements in Indonesia and
China”. SARAH ROBERTS, Executive Director, ETP.

Today’s news
builds on 12 great years of work by the ETP. It reflects a significant
step forward and extends the relevance of the ETP’s work in line with
the changing demands of its many and varied stakeholders.