Ethnicraft Oak Blackbird sideboard - 3 doors

We look at the provenance of timber to ensure it’s legal and not endangered, see if it’s COC certified by the FSC or PEFC and where it is grown. We consider the ability for a product to be recycled or reused at the end of its life. For any non-sustainable elements (E.G. metal table extension mechanisms), we consider how many years likely usage the element will achieve.

We visit our workshops to see first-hand how they are managed. We assess employment practices as defined by International Labour Organisation but also regional regulations (EU standards or equivalent area of developed regulation) and whether measures such as Zero waste facilities are in use. Most of our workshops are smaller family owned businesses where we can actively encourage ways of improving practices – like moving to water based glues/stains.

We don’t use air freight. Most of our furniture is transported from Europe by road. We are embarking on a Carbon Balance programme for our transportation from the workshops to our customers’ homes through The World Land Trust’s land conservation scheme, which protects the world’s most biologically important and threatened habitats. Our packaging has to be robust to protect our products, but we are always looking for new ways to use recycled or recyclable products.

Finally we consider a final star for any extra, non-essential steps that our workshops take to limit their impact on the natural and social environment for no other reason than it’s the responsible thing to do. For example community and charitable work.