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Loose Parts
Best Practice Achievements
Sustainable Materials
We make a conscious effort to manage our materials selection, seeking materials we are confident are sustainable, such as legally harvested forest products, responsibly produced plantation products, and recycled content:
Recycling and Reclamation
We factor disassembly, recyclability and product reclamation into buying decisions. We offer a product reclamation/product reuse policy:
Return and Reuse
We use recycled or recyclable packing/packaging materials, offer blanket-wrap transportation arrangements for customers and have a carton return/reuse policy:
Chain of Custody
We ask for verifiable chain of custody documents (i.e. legal logging certifications) before buying products containing wood:
Decrease use of Toxic Chemicals
We have decreased our use/acceptance of known toxic chemicals for treatments, binders and finishes, replacing compounds that compromise indoor air quality and are harmful to human health:
Low Environmental Impact Textiles
We are asking our vendors for textiles that have a lower environmental impact, i.e. organic cotton in place of conventionally-grown cotton, as well as seeking other eco-friendly textiles:
Life Cycle Analysis
We are moving forward on doing a Life Cycle Analysis and/or are applying for SMaRT certification:
Local Sourcing
We extract, manufacture and distribute for consumer use within a 500 mile radius for at least a portion of our product line:
Third Party Certifications
We hold third party certifications for some of our products, or as a store, we promote and educate the consumer on the meaning of various third party certifications:
Sharing the Wealth
We take responsibility for sharing our commitment to sustainability up and down our entire supply chain, rewarding our vendors with increased business for partnering with us on sustainability issues:
Social Responsibility Code
We have a written Social Responsibility Code of Contact that is a baseline for employee relations:
Supplier Responsibility
We have written and distributed a Supplier Responsibility Code of Conduct for our vendors and conduct training at our partner facilities on the adoption of same:
Health and Safety Code Compliance
We and our partners meet or exceed all local health and safety codes and can document our health and safety working conditions in all our facilities/stores:
We Pay Living Wages
We pay a living wage rather than minimum wage and extend that around the globe:
We Sponsor Sustainability Events
We have participated in or sponsored in-store, community and/or regional educational events on sustainability and the environment:
We Inspect
We investigate and mitigate any negative environmental impacts from our operations:
Save Paper and Other Office Resources
We save paper and other office resources with a policy expressing an aversion to excess written documentation:
We Use Energy Specialists
We have had an energy specialist or utility company audit to measure our conventional energy usage and are on track to reduce it. We are replacing a portion of the energy we consume with certified renewable energy, either directly, via a program of our local utility, or via Green e-Power:
Updated Inefficient Equipment
We have replaced outdated and inefficient equipment, identified and changed wasteful resource procedures and implemented tighter operational controls:
Energy Efficient Lighting
We have increased the use of day lighting and/or are upgrading to more energy efficient lighting system:
Verified Sustainability Claims
We make only verifiable sustainability claims in adherence with FTC mandates against greenwash and in support of their Environmental Marketing Guides:
Committed to Training
We are committed to conducting training in-house and in the broader community about global climate change and our partnership with the SFC:
In keeping with our commitment to continual improvement, we are planning to take the following actions this year: On reducing energy consumption:
This year we are focused on decreasing carbon emissions within our supply chain by limiting points of transfer of raw material to make our furniture, in this case American hardwoods. Previously we relied on an outside shop based in Brooklyn New York to source lumber, fabricate and finish our furniture. The journey of wood often took a circuitous route passing from the wood basket, to sawmill, to supplier to fabricator, to us and then finally to our customer. By bringing fabrication in house and sourcing lumber directly from the sawmill we saw we could minimize points of transfer of the material. Wood from the sawmill now travels directly to our shop where we fabricate the pieces and ship directly to our clients. This also allows us to offer our clients the opportunity to send back components from the Loose Parts system to be refinished or exchanged, further increasing the lifespan of their Loose Parts furniture piece. We are working on formalizing this exchange program which we plan to launch by the end of this year.
In keeping with our commitment to continual improvement, we are planning to take the following actions this year: On how we will manage our primary material or service to a more sustainable direction:
We use American hardwood for our assembly based furniture collection. In June we partnered with an AHMI (Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers INC)certified sawmill within the wood basket we were sourcing from. By buying directly from the sawmill we are able to maximize a flitch by specifying our dimensional requirements from the beginning, thus limiting material waste.
In keeping with our commitment to continual improvement, we are planning to take the following actions this year: On education and promotion of the sustainability cause:
We are working on a program that will allow past customers to exchange or repair components from their Loose Parts system. This will include sanding and refinishing a wood rai or cutting down longer rails to smaller lengths so that they may be assembled into a new design. We are also working on ways to increase stylistic longevity for our furniture. For example we are exploring options to allow customers to send back aluminum shelving from our bookshelves to be re-powder coated if they should tire of the color. Our goal is to encourage people to imagine furniture as a system rather than a stand-alone object, meaning they can update a part rather than throw out the whole thing.
