Antiques don’t have to be expensive, in fact you can pick up some real bargains in an auction house. This is a great way to recycle furniture. Aside from monetary benefits, one of the most persuasive arguments to buy antique or retro furniture is positive impact it can have on protecting the environment and this is what we intend to promote. A new made chest of drawers for example has a carbon footprint 16 times higher that the antique equivalent per year. According to a report from waste think tank RSA, Britons throw away more that 300,000 tonnes of reusable furniture every year. Here are just a few ways new furniture can have a negative impact on the environment if supply chain and manufacturing processes aren’t carried out with sustainability in mind:

• Product purchasing and design
• Raw material use
• Secondary machining losses through cut-offs
• Coating, treating and spraying
• Assembly, packaging and returns

According to factotum the average age for a sofa is 7-8 years. This is not saying that your antique sofa or any other antique furniture will magically last for 1,000 years without the need for some care and attention – but what might happen is it will gain value, even if it does have damage to it. Antique furniture is also very often far more robust than its modern counterparts. Built using solid wood rather than for example, laminated, chipboard, making it more durable for the long-term and less likely to break or get damaged during house moves and everyday use. There is already enough stuff in the world without needing to make more. Better for the environment and resources, it also saves resources, reduces emissions, reduces waste and saves all the new packaging which has a drastic effect on the environment. So why not go green, buy and sell recycled furniture.