What is sustainable interior design?

Good design for the home has traditionally been about bringing a number of different aspects together to create the ideal living space; location, cost, function and style all have to be juggled (with a touch of inspiration of course!) for the perfect home.

However a new issue has landed at our doorsteps, one that now must be considered alongside the rest. Environmental concerns mean that our homes need to go beyond our personal requirements to become more conscious of the planet at a wider scale. We now need to consider the impact our homes are having on the environment, and consider our lives on a wider scale.
In the past “eco design” has been the reserve of what many believed to be tree hugging hippies – but who’s ideas are now becoming ever more relevant. Their approach to design could be summed up as less is more, or simply to tread lightly on the earth.

Society has been quick to ridicule these ideas, largely as they reject the conventional notions of consumerism – with a functional bare aesthetic intertwined with an alternative spiritual belief system. But if you were to drop the latter, there are actually many practical lessons that we can learn from this way of living.
Eco Designs fundamental “mantra” (ok I know that word does sound a little hippy, but stick with me) is known as the 3 R’s, that’s:
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

Reduce is as the name suggests, about reducing your consumption of resources- be it the basics that you use in your home (such as gas, water, or electricity), or more general consumable goods such as packaging, clothes, furniture, petrol, cosmetics and foodstuffs. Being realistic it doesn’t mean living a totally minimal life, rather a more efficient, and thoughtful one.

Reuse refers to the sustainable method that the products we buy and use are made. We should ensure that they come from a well managed and sustainable source, one that is naturally replenished, this includes natural materials such as wood, wool, cork, and rubber. The Reuse of products also refers to items that are re-appropriated; this can be as simple as a chair that is given a new lease of life with a lick of paint or a recovered armchair. In addition it includes fabrics and foods and products that come from a fair-trade/ organic source – ensuring that we are not unnecessarily depleting or damaging the earths resources, or putting others lives in misery, starvation and poverty. Ensuring that the lives of others are in a balance as a result of the way that we live our lives.

Recycle differs from “reuse” in that the it refers to materials that would generally be totally broken down before being reassembled in another form, such as the recycling of cardboard, glass or paper. Recycling ensures that materials are not taken out of their useful lifecycle loop by being cast into land fill or being incinerated. Clearly the planet does not possess limitless supplies of raw materials, so its essential that we make the most of what we have. You can now recycle nearly 70% of what goes into your home - glass, tin, paper, plastics, clothes/ fabrics, paints almost everything can go somewhere if you simply take the time to think about it.

The 3 Rs sit in a logical hierarchy whereby it’s better to use less in the first place ( ie reduce). So be efficient with what you have and use, and try not to take it for granted.
If you can t use less then make sure that what you do use comes from a well managed renewable, and sustainable source (ie reuse).

Lastly, we should make sure that what we do use or consume, doesn’t just leave the loop by being put into land fill or being incinerated, but recycle it to be reused in another form. Recycling is at the bottom of the 3 R hierarchy as it takes energy to collect materials, chop them up and then reform them into new products - still it plays a vital role in our new sustainable world and life style.

For more eco interior design ideas visit OliverHeath website.