There’s a culprit responsible for mountains of waste in our landfills: fast furniture. Fast furniture, much like fast fashion clothing brands such as Shein & Forever 21 is cheap and mass produced. This has caused environmental problems for decades. Consumers tend to abandon these pieces within five to 10 years, and since they’re so poorly made, they’re more likely to end up in the trash than be sold or repaired.
The Environmental Protection Agency reports that over nine million tonnes of furniture are disposed in landfills in America every year. Ashlee Piper, sustainability expert, and author of Give A Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet.
When it comes to the biggest fast furniture producers, many point to IKEA as the top culprit, but Piper isn’t so quick to condemn the Swedish furniture brand. “I think IKEA is almost unfairly low-hanging fruit,” she says. “I would not put IKEA in the same category as Wayfair or Amazon because IKEA actually has made good on a lot of their…
