The Truth about Furniture and Sustainability

Tucked away in the centre of Orchard Road within Level Four of the eclectic tenant mix of Mandarin Gallery, atomi is an independently managed company I co-founded with a vision to promote Japanese Designs and Comfortable Lifestyle from Japan to everyone in Singapore & beyond. Tired of the boring retail scene in Singapore, yet as an international city boasting some of the highest costs of living in the world, we need to create a brand to increase the retail professional, entrepreneurship ecosystem and sustainable practices to knock out fast furniture. Since 2009, I have been bent on making a difference by creating a brand about authenticity and sustainability and leaving a legacy to last beyond my lifetime.

Everyone knows sustainability is critical, but many businesses face other pressing economic challenges to view sustainability as a critical issue. Instead, they have to worry about the daily bread and butter issues. To further complicate the issue in the case of atomi, the sheer amount of replica furniture contradicts our push for sustainability. We focused on furniture that are designed to last, built under good working conditions for the craftsmen with raw materials that are organic and responsible sourced. The Supply and demand for replicas and poorly made fast furniture have contributed to the low adoption of sustainable solutions within the furniture industry, accentuated by the easy access to online vendors of such products. The open nature of our country means it's extremely easy for anyone to get hold of these fast furniture at an impossibly low prices. The practical consumers traded sustainability for cheap and easy solutions, and thereby causing the landfills to quickly fill up. This was further accentuated by consumers who disposed the fast furniture hastily bought during Covid. Regrettably, this is the predominant mindset of general consumers. Often produced in undesirable conditions, fast furniture incurs higher carbon footprints as its life cycles are shorter. With fast furniture's low-price nature, manufacturers use less robust materials and chemicals that are easily damaged and harder to repair and recycle.

Furniture must be well-designed and built will likely end up in landfills many years after production. During manufacturing, it is vital to ensure that furniture is crafted with biodegradable materials that do not cause harm to the planet at the end of the life cycle. Factories must minimise the usage of toxic chemicals that pose health risks to workers and consumers. It's easier to repair or repurpose solid wood furniture than one made of particle board with a laminated finish, commonly found in cheaper tables and not recyclable or biodegradable. Well-designed, authentic furniture is subjected to strict testing and regulations to ensure performance, safety, and durability. Replicas, fast furniture and others do not have to undergo these tests and can get away with using materials of lower quality and chemicals to save costs. There is an urgent need to regulate the furniture industry to protect the workers during production and ensure furniture does not contain toxic chemicals for the sake of the end users. And all these furniture should be disposed off safely to preserve our environment. Regulations should be in place to ensure furniture imported to Singapore complies with product sustainability policy, authenticated eco-design with biodegradable materials and energy efficiency used during production, supply chain and even at the time of disposal.

Retailers must take the first step to enhance sustainability within a circulatory ecosystem, harness design thinking to reduce wastage and pollution, promote products made with up-cycled materials, and regenerate nature, which is critical to the industry's longevity. Furniture made with manufactured wood products may contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde which is terrible for health. Solid wood furniture, while more expensive,?on the other hand, contained no formaldehyde and would last longer because it can be repaired, up-cycled and repurposed better than manufactured wood products. An excellent place to start investing in good quality furniture would be the kids' and high-touch furniture to minimise VOC contamination.

Retailers must work with manufacturers to develop products that fit the lifestyle and philosophy of sophisticated customers who are increasingly aware of the environmental impact. Forward-thinking manufacturers have their manifesto published as part of their SDGs activities to calculate CO2 emission from the business activities for carbon offset. Retailers should play their roles in managing their carbon footprint and make sustainability a core value, such as reducing physical showrooms, matching productions to orders, selecting responsible partners and empowering consumers to join in reducing carbon footprints.

The furniture and retail industry has taken the lead in positively impacting our planet. Up next, we need widespread buy-in from consumers. The ball is in the court of the consumers, companies and government agencies to purchase furniture from responsible retailers and manufacturers. Consumers have the final say in deciding the fate of the sustainability movement, and their purchasing decisions will determine the pace of the sustainability efforts. Managing atomi allows me a platform to connect directly with the end consumers and that is critical to solve the environmental issues we are facing today. This is both a privilege and honour for us, our team, and even my daughters to be able to make a direct impact to make the world a better place for all.

As a retailer, lecturer, and entrepreneur, I am teaching, grooming and inspiring the future generations of shoppers, entrepreneurs and leaders. After lecturing in NTU for over a decade now, managing atomi for 14 years and counting, and now investing in new companies to spur innovations and creativity, we have many exciting plans, ideations and concepts to swing into actions. Join us in creating a sustainable future with atomi - #andrewtanatomisingapore #theatomiway