Sustainability & Ethics

Sustainability has been a focus for Funky Chunky Furniture since we started in 2013. It began by us ensuring all our raw materials are responsibly sourced, and as we’ve grown so has our commitment to sustainability.

We continually look at how we operate and whether we can improve. Our Sustainability Taskforce, made up of team members from across the business, holds us accountable. As part of their roles they interrogate how we operate, then, if necessary, research and test alternatives. If it’s going to make an impact, and it’s do-able, we make the change.

Wooden planks in woodshop
Our Sustainability Pledge

Funky Chunky Furniture already has a number of practises in place to ensure we operate sustainably. But, like everyone, it’s not ‘job done’. As innovations are made and new technologies become available, we can all improve further.


That’s why we continue to look at ways to further reduce our environmental impact. Funky Chunky Furniture’s Sustainability Pledge is a promise to do our best, and we ask you, our customers, to pledge the same.


We have a collective responsibility to reduce our impact, protect our world, and support sustainable growth. Only by working together can we really make a difference.

sustainable

FSC® Certified

Handcrafting solid wood furniture and shelves every day we are only too aware of the responsibility we have,

and the potential environmental impact if our timbers are not sustainably sourced.

Funky Chunky Furniture has been independently certified to the FSC® Standards (FSC-C177532).

Globally recognised as the highest standard of responsible forestry, FSC certification demonstrates our commitment to sustainability.

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  • What we do

    We’re proud to say that we’ve always used sustainably sourced timbers for our shelves and mantels. To now have the FSC certification further confirms that our furniture, shelves and mantels are made from the most responsible and sustainable sources.

    FSC-certified wood comes from well-managed forests that fight deforestation and protect habitats.

  • What you can do

    If you want to shop sustainably, choose to buy wood that’s FSC certified, and you’ll be helping to protect the world’s forests and the animals and plants that live in them.

    Look out for FSC logos on other brands you shop with too.

Carbon Neutral Deliveries

Carbon Neutral Deliveries

The delivery of your order can be entirely carbon neutral when you shop with us. Every order placed on our website, and paid for using the Shop Pay option, will have its carbon emissions offset as part of the Shopify Sustainability Fund.

At the moment, the fund is working with three companies on solutions that will help to proactively remove carbon and help to reverse climate change. These include Climeworks which has the technology to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere, Planetary which rebalances carbon in the atmosphere and oceans, and Remora which is creating carbon removal devices out of semi trucks.

Last year, the Sustainability Fund worked with WeForest on a project in the Casamance mangroves in Senegal, Africa, planting 4.6 million mangrove trees. Mangrove trees capture and store large amounts of carbon dioxide. The reforestation covers 1,000 hectares, and is boosting fish and shellfish populations as well as creating sustainable fishing for local communities. Over the next 30 years, these restored mangroves are expected to capture and store 219,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

  • What we do

    When you pay using Shop Pay, our website calculates the carbon emissions of the delivery of your order, and buys carbon removal to counteract these emissions.

  • What you can do

    To make sure your delivery is carbon neutral choose the Shop Pay option when paying for your purchases on our website. Find out more, here.

ethical shopping home accessories
Fair trade

Ethical Choice

We launched our Home Accessories collection in 2019, with a carefully curated collection of pieces from like-minded producers. Since then the range has grown, and so has our commitment to ethical sourcing. In early 2021 we launched our Ethical Choice range of Home Accessories. Every piece in this collection has been carefully selected to be one, or more of the following:

• Made from sustainably sourced or renewable materials
• Made from recycled materials
• Made from natural, organic materials and free from artificial colours and dyes.
• Bought as part of a Fair Trade agreement - where this is the case, you'll see the BAFTS logo. on that product's page.

You will be able to check the product's materials and its specific Ethical Choice claim within the details on its product page.

  • What we do

    We’re incredibly proud of this beautiful collection, which accounts for more than 30% of our complete range of Home Accessories. Over the coming months we’re hoping to expand this range of ethically sourced pieces so that it represents a much larger proportion of what we sell.

  • What you can do

    If you want to feel really good about your new home accessories, choose from our Ethical Choices collection. Or, if you’re buying from another retailer, take a moment to consider what they’re made from, and how and where they’re made before making your decision to purchase.
Packaging

Packaging

As an online retailer we do have to send our furniture, shelves and accessories to customers. This of course requires packaging to ensure they’re not damaged on their way to you. We are phasing out the use of plastic corners as part of our packaging, which will result in us saving 1.83 tonnes of plastic per year.

At the moment we use a combination of cardboard, plastic film and bubble wrap. Our bubble wrap is made from 30% recycled material and is also 100% recyclable. Cardboard, bubble wrap and plastic wrapping are widely recycled, either as part of your household waste collections or at local waste recycling centres. You can find your nearest location by visiting Recycle Now.

Packaging

  • What we do

    Our Sustainability Taskforce is looking into ways to both reduce the amount of packaging we use, and at alternatives. We have previously trialled a bubble wrap made from recycled marine plastic (plastic that has been recovered from oceans and seas), and we are in the process of researching other similar materials.

  • What you can do

    If you receive an order from us, please do take your packaging to be recycled. Plastic bubble wrap can be recycled, and you can find your nearest recycling centre, here.

Waste Not. Want Not

By its very nature, the manufacturing of solid wood furniture and shelves creates waste materials. However, we strive to reduce waste across our business. It’s an ongoing process, but here are just a few of the ways that we are diverting waste products from landfill.

  • Sawdust

    Sawdust

    All our sawdust is re-used. Making solid wood furniture and shelves from timbers does create sawdust. All our sawdust is collected through extraction units, We generate, approximately, twelve bags of sawdust each week, amounting to 12,000 litres. It’s then packaged up and distributed to local stables where it is used as bedding for horses, among other re-uses.

  • Wood Off-cuts

    Wood Off-cuts

    Through both the design and manufacture processes we ensure that our wood waste is kept to an absolute minimum. All our off-cuts are either reused for our smaller products, or are used as fuel in our clean-fuel furnace to heat the workshop.

  • Cardboard

    Cardboard

    Any cardboard packaging we receive deliveries in gets re-used on site. We have purchased a cardboard shredder that creates a packing material that we now use to wrap and pack our smaller items, such as our Home Accessories range, ready for dispatch.