What Is Fast Furniture?
Fast furniture is like fast fashion—cheap, mass-produced, and made with low-quality materials. Instead of being built to last, it’s designed to fulfill changing trends. Most of it breaks and is thrown away. An estimated ten million tons of furniture ends up in landfills each year!
All mass production harms the planet. Cheaply made fast furniture often contains harmful chemical dyes, plastics, and flame retardants. Many fast furniture pieces are made from cheap wood products like MDF—sawdust mixed with formaldehyde. These chemicals seep into our environment and damage our precious ecosystems.
In addition, wood is an essential natural resource, and fast furniture is a major contributor to deforestation. My advice for avoiding fast furniture is to buy used! Most of our furniture is from local second-hand stores, craigslist, or friends selling or giving away their gently-loved pieces.
If you prefer to buy new, focus on buying high-quality, locally-produced, chemical-free pieces. Seek out smaller businesses and craftspeople that use 100% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood.
If commissioning a piece from a local craftsperson is out of your budget, at the very least, buy furniture produced with sustainable materials. Avoid furniture containing formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Vinyl Acetate, Benzene, PDBEs, stain-repellents, and polyurethane foam.
When buying new furniture, look for sustainable materials certifications such as:
- USDA-Certified Organic
- Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
- Oeko-Tex 100
- Bluesign
- Fair Trade
- Better Cotton Standard
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
Slow furniture businesses I recommend:
If you’re looking for more ways to make your home as eco friendly as possible check out my post about green home upgrades that also saves money and my post about beginners guide to minimalistic home here
