Gary Carr, from a major furniture manufacturer in the UK, recently commented to the press that UK consumers’ buying patterns had changed quite radically within the last few years.  He claimed that this was probably down to the changing views reflecting our environmental and economic concerns.

A recent industry study to ascertain buying patterns within the office furniture industry found that the majority of people in the UK would want their office furniture to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The Office Furniture and Filing Manufacturers Association (Offma) decided to ascertain the CO2 emissions for each product; they based their ranking on emission standards from the data which was provided by the DEFRA, the Department of Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs in conjunction with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

After they had completed their studies they were able to calculate each emission that was generated through the shipping /manufacturing process for every single furniture item.  Buyers have now got the opportunity to compare the environmental effects of much UK produced office furniture and some of those items that are shipped from overseas.  

Now the emissions for every item are clearly lower when the item has been bought in the UK, as shipping costs are much lower, which has meant that people who are aware of the green issue are buying items from Britain.