Why 'eco'?

Why do I want to make furniture that is classed as 'eco', 'sustainable', 'environmentally conscientious', 'green'....?

Think of any product, how it is made, what it is used for, and what happens to it at the end of its life? Think of the energy and fuel that went into each stage of its production, from raw material to deconstruction or decompostition. In other words its embodied energy.

I want to make furniture where the raw material has come from the most natural factory; a forest. Making furniture using minimal power, and more emphasis on hand tool work. Preferring to use locally sourced English or Welsh hardwoods to minimize transport and to encourage the re-planting of our woodlands, beneficial to wildlife and to the local economy and lessening the impact on rain forest timbers.

When I was studying Furniture Design at Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology I set up a 'Tree Group' in my second year, where we raised money to plant trees in the college grounds, to try and put back some of what we were using on our course. This was March 1996, they have now grown up into a small woodland, a little wild oasis in the corner of the field.

I use reclaimed wood, metal and other materials in my designs to re-use 'waste' and for design aesthetics, creating a piece of original contemporary design that will be used and appreciated for generations. And at the end of its useful life, it can be disassembled, re-used, or ultimately return to the earth.