When is Plastic Fantastic? – Plastic Free July
Interior designer Laura Baarda shares some of the ways we are working to reduce ocean plastic.
It’s mid-way through July, and we’re knee-deep into our plastic-free July pledges – doing what we can to reduce our use of single-use plastic. So I thought I would share some ways we put plastic back into our projects… I mean ocean plastic!
I’m a huge advocate for protecting our oceans and the marine life within them (leaving my marine biologist aspirations behind to become an interior designer). So it fills my heart with joy when a supplier says… “it’s made from recycled ocean plastic”. It is essential that we not only reduce the impact we have on the planet but strive to make positive innovations to reduce the impact we have already made.
The leaps of innovation being made in the industry when it comes to sustainability are amazing. Each year 12 million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans, so here are my top four products made from ocean plastic that we are specifying right now:
1. Camira – Oceanic
Camira’s Oceanic range has been designed to help combat marine plastic pollution. It is created entirely from recycled ocean plastic used to make a yarn called SEAQUAL. Each metre of the Oceanic fabric contains the equivalent of 26 bottles. This product is often at the top of my list not only because of the positive solution to ocean plastic but the incredible vivid colour range and the angled stripe that looks striking when upholstered.
Camira has expanded the ocean plastic range with the latest Quest range, also made from SEAQUAL yarn.
Image Credit: https://www.camirafabrics.com/en/fabrics/contract/oceanic
2. Herman Miller – Aeron Chair
Coming soon… the entire collection of Aeron chairs will contain ocean-bound plastic. The Onyx ultra-matte colour has up to 1.13kg of mismanaged plastic waste found near waterways per chair! These material changes in the Aeron portfolio are projected to save the ocean from over 136 tonnes of plastic annually. In addition, all the chairs within the Aeron portfolio are up to 90% recyclable and comprise over 50% recycled content. This is a beautiful ergonomic chair that not only helps to reduce the amount of plastic being put into the ocean but also delivers a beautiful aesthetic.
Image Credit: www.hermanmiller.com
3. Panaz – ecoTWILL
This inspiring innovation allows for complete design freedom while also using an environmentally conscious product. The ecoTWILL by Panaz is the first contract quality fabric, a high-performance base cloth fabric for print. It has a lovely texture that is perfect for hospitality and workspace sectors and is full fire-retardant – the possibilities are endless, especially with Panaz’s bespoke fabric design service ReMake. Woven and printed in the UK, the fabric contains 50 recycled 500ml PTE bottles in every m2 – what’s not to love?
Image Credit: https://www.designinsiderlive.com/pop-bottle-fabric-for-michelin-star-chefs-pop-up-restaurant/
4. Interface Flooring – Net effect
Interface’s Net Effect carpet tile collection honours the ocean not only in its design and inspiration references (giving an almost beach effect – see image) but in a tangible way through a project called NetWorks. Networks provide a source of income for small fishing villages in the Philippines while cleaning up their beaches and waters of discarded fishing nets. The discarded fishing nets are collected and sold to Interface’s partner Aquafil who creates recycled content nylon for interface carpet tiles.
Image Credit: https://www.interface.com/EU/en-GB/about/mission/Net-Works-en_GB
As a team, we are constantly looking for ways to be more sustainable on our projects. Ocean plastic facts are shocking; 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually – which is why we do everything we can to share the innovations and use the products, reducing ocean plastic.
If you know of any sustainable innovations, especially ocean related, please get in touch so we can help educate ourselves and our clients!
Laura Baarda