As reclaimed, vintage, and reused turn into buzz words for large retailers, we can't help but feel like they lose a bit of their value. Restoration Hardware had reuse-inspired pieces for quite sometime, including burlap sack pillows that weren't originally burlap. Their new line-up of beautiful pieces for outdoor spaces and gardens are made from truly reclaimed pieces, but how sustainable is it to buy out all of the vintage barrels to make chandeliers?
At an incredible pace, large higher end retailers are purchasing vintage items and wood planks in bulk to remake them into design-wonders. The reuse enthusiast part of me is so excited to think of all of the materials that are being upcycled that may have otherwise gone to sit in landfills. The other part of me is curious to know just where and how they are sourcing these unique items. If they have thousands of vintage, hand-painted 50 year old rolling pins from India, then how many were there to begin with? And just how sustainable is it to remove these items from their original cultures and place them somewhere else for purely ornamental value?
There are some serious questions surrounding sourcing, ethics, safety, and availability of these materials. That is not to say that large retailers are not acting in a sustainable manner, or that large-scale upcycling is by definition unsustainable. There is scant information about the actual sourcing and resource sustainability of the materials used in these products. So although we are inspired by the idea of chandeliers made from vintage wine barrels, we are equally curious to know just where those wine barrels came from, why there are suddenly so many to be re-designed, and how they are purchased.
Any thoughts from our readers on this topic?
(Image: Restoration Hardware)
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Comments (2)
I think you covered the bases here. When any consumer product goes big, there should be a concern with who is being impacted and at what price.
Big biz will skip the steps of reclaiming that make it so unique+sustainable.
In your example, the thousands of vintage Indian rolling pins will use all kindsa gallons of gas to get to the big shops that will put thousands of price tags on them that will go into landfills+bag them in fancy wrapping that'll go into those landfills too. Yuck. Not to say that smaller shops don't use packaging but the impact is significantly less.
I'm kinda just stating the obvious+reiterating the article, but as consumers, let's not go there with these companies. They will take shortcuts that end up hurting more than helping.
**applause** Well done on this post. I wonder about this too. We have a responsibility as consumers to wonder why anyone would "need" a chandelier. Rolling pins and wine barrels could serve to keep us alive with food and water. I'd think that reclaimed barn wood could serve some people who would like fences (I put that in the "need" category just because of my freakish obsession with privacy and protecting our yard)......
The lesson here is that resources are limited, and the wealthy should not be snatching up all the reused stuff and then patting themselves on the back. Save some for the rest of us who are just trying to get by and to be responsible to our planet.