Caring For The Only Planet We Have

Investing in sustainable furniture is essential not only for the environment but also for your business reputation. Here we explain why.

Sustainability should be a key consideration when choosing healthcare furniture

As we have seen from the last few years of natural disasters, the devastating effects of climate change will impact us all. As individuals and businesses, we all have a responsibility to make sustainable choices about the way we live our lives. When it comes to sustainability, the furniture and design industry has come a long way. Australian healthcare providers can now access furniture options that are good for the environment and for the health and well-being of patients, aged care residents and staff. Investing in sustainable furniture is essential not only for the environment but also for your business reputation. Here we explain why.

Sustainable creation

If you want to do the best for the environment when planning your healthcare interiors, you need to start at the beginning with environmental manufacturing. This is something that is of critical importance to the furniture brands at KE-ZU. For example, the Nightingale brand, which creates Cricket II Chair and Cricket Bariatric Chair, ensures that many of the plastic, metal and fabric components are made from recycled materials. Their chairs are GREENGUARD® certified, which means they’re low-emitting products that meet indoor air quality standards. Another of our brands, Global, which makes items like the Dreme Sleeper Benchhas a closed-loop manufacturing process. This means none of their manufacturing waste ends up in landfill. One way they upcycle is by sending their excess textiles to accessories designer Echoes in the Attic where they turn them into handmade, vegan leather handbags. Talk about a sustainable partnership for the future.

Minimising the impact of transport and logistics

Another critical area for environmental concern is the impact of transport on our carbon footprint. We should all be looking locally as much as possible when making purchasing decisions. At KE-ZU, this is a focus for us. To combat environmental concerns, we make many of our international products locally in Australia under licence. This means we can bring the exceptional quality of our global partners without the carbon footprint. For those products that can’t be manufactured in Australia, our suppliers' ship flat packed, where possible, to reduce packaging. We are also a member of the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), which has a target of 100% of Australian packaging being reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle

The last step in sustainable furniture design is buying quality furniture that is built to last. By resisting fast fashion and buying the best quality you can afford, you can stop furniture from being sent to landfill. But for those pieces that have found their end, there are still options to consider sustainability. At KE-ZU, we are part of a product stewardship program which means you can return your used products through selected distributors for recycling. This means these products are refurbished, or components are recycled, so they don’t end up in landfill. Living more sustainability is no longer a choice, and corporate social responsibility is becoming increasingly important in reputation management. As healthcare leaders, we can all be a part of the solution to finding a more sustainable future.