World Earth Day: How We’re Crafting a Greener Future
World Earth Day is an annual event dedicated to raising awareness and support for environmental action, serving as a reminder of the importance of preserving the Earth’s natural resources, ecosystems, and biodiversity. The global event aims to inspire individuals and communities worldwide to take action, inspiring sustainable practices to combat climate change
At Sustainable Kitchens, our mission is to inspire a sustainable lifestyle through our kitchens. Our tight-knit team of makers and creators are all committed to fighting against the harmful environmental effects of kitchen renovation through responsible manufacturing and intelligent design. From the products that we create to the practices that we follow as a company, we constantly strive to challenge ourselves to work ethically and responsibly, creating products that enable people to live more sustainably.
World Earth Day round up
To celebrate World Earth Day 2024, we’re rounded up our sustainable practices that we champion daily to help towards a greener future.
Carbon offsetting
We’re proud to announce that we have offset our 22/23 carbon footprint with a UNFCCC-approved scheme by Bristol charity, The Converging World, for a second consecutive year.
To monitor our carbon emissions, we partnered with Future Leap to commission our Carbon Impact Report and measure our emissions from April 2022 – March 2023. This report helps us to visualise our carbon footprint, giving us a clear understanding of our emissions and highlighting high-emission areas, like travel and waste, for us to review and improve.
Following this report, we have teamed with Bristol charity The Converging World to purchase carbon credits which retire our emissions from the market and plant trees. Proceeds from carbon offsets are used by The Converging World to support afforestation activities and sponsor educational programmes for marginalised communities in South India.
Materials
Our choice of materials is key to building long-lasting, durable kitchens. We aim to use only the most sustainably and responsibly sourced timber from certified suppliers, including the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
We opt for low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) materials, including birch plywood, solid sustainable timber, and water-based paints. VOCs pose significant risks to climate change, environmental quality, and human health.
All of our carcasses are made from birch plywood, which is a highly sustainable wood. Birch trees are fast-growing and can be found in abundance in the Northern Hemisphere. Birch plywood is a fantastic material to use in kitchen design thanks to its resilience, moisture resistance, and durability.
We use a range of materials for our cabinet doors, including responsibly sourced oak, birch plywood, and high-quality MDF.
Tree Dedication Scheme
The Sustainable Kitchens Tree Dedication Scheme ensures the planting and maintenance of trees with each kitchen we supply. We donate a tree to a reforestation program on behalf of each of our clients, as a small gesture to offset a portion of resources used to bring our beautiful kitchens to life.
In our most recent collaboration, we teamed up with Ecologi to support their Eden Reforestation Project Mangrove tree planting project in Irregle Milato, Mozambique. Mangrove trees are a small, coastal tree species, known particularly for their carbon-absorbing properties, storing it in their extensive root systems underground. The planting of mangrove trees will help to stabilise the soil, absorb the carbon, and provide employment to local planters and forest guards.
Minimum waste
Waste is an area that we are constantly reviewing and improving on. Our kitchens are built and designed to last. Should any issues emerge, our cabinetry is designed to be repaired or replaced with ease.
For kitchen delivery, our cabinets are protected using the minimum amount of recycled card and packaged with biodegradable wrap, shelves and smaller items are wrapped in reusable packing blankets.
Our fantastic workshop team use careful cutting techniques to ensure we get the most out of our materials. Any off-cuts that we have are sent to the scrap store for donation to local schools or used by local businesses.
For our clients, we work with Rehome to help dismantle and sell any perfectly good pre-loved kitchens that may have ended up in landfills during their kitchen renovation.
Next steps
We strive for continuous improvement in everything that we do, including our sustainability practices. We are currently working with Future Leap to map a plan to achieving net zero, an ambitious yet crucial goal to protect our planet.
Read our Sustainability Policy to find out more.
