Meet furniture maker and retailer Emily McGarvey Accommodation and meals‘s first Director of Sustainability. Founded in 1980, the company recently became an employee-owned B Corporation. Room & Board employs 12,000 U.S. artisans to make its furniture and has made significant efforts to reduce its environmental impact by achieving 95% sustainable wood sourcing, including repurposing salvaged urban wood into its tables and chairs and making 51% of its packaging recyclable, on track to reach its 100% goal by 2025.
Global furniture industry is expected to generate $765 billion in sales this year Statista analysisReducing the carbon footprint associated with furniture gives consumers access to more sustainable options, from sourcing wood and materials closer to producers to shortening supply chains to minimize the need for transportation. For example, retail chain Ashley Furniture has the seventh-largest ocean shipping carbon footprint of any major brand, as most of its manufacturing is based in Asia. To find out more about Room & Board, visit https://www.roomandboard.com/
Fix: Room & Board needed to correct its statement about its progress with recyclable packaging: rather than saying it has achieved 89% recyclable packaging, the company currently uses 51% recyclable material and aims to reach 100% by 2025.