8 minute read
How to shop
How to shop second-hand and fi nd hidden furniture gems
Second-hand shopping is a sustainable and cheaper way to decorate your home
As world-renowned tidying expert Marie Kondo famously said, items should spark joy. Whether it’s a chest of drawers or a candelabra, it’s important • to seek out – and hold on tight – to things that set our heart afl utter. But while minimalist Marie might not • be tempted to snap up other’s waste, more and more people are fi nding joy in deep-diving, ruin-rummaging and second-hand shopping. The search is part of the thrill, • after all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Shoppers are increasingly looking for sustainable solutions for their shopping habits and charity retailers across the country are perfectly positioned to meet the needs of this change.
Take the British Heart Foundation. They off er quality items at aff ordable prices, while also making sure your money goes to worthwhile causes. The charity expect to save around 71,000 tonnes of goods from going to waste, by selling over half a million pieces of living room furniture this year.
“Shopping second-hand with the BHF is not only an a ordable option for all types of budgets but it also gives those who want to reduce waste a way to support the reuse cycle – while helping to generate millions of pounds for research into heart and circulatory diseases,” said Imogen Shephard from BFH.
Here are BHF’s top tips for hunting down your very own second-hand saviours. Something to think about
The reuse and recycling of donated items each year helps • prevent 135,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere. Dedicate your day
If you are shopping second-hand on the high street it is always good to go with an open mind and plenty of time on your hands so that you can seek out any hidden gems.
Don’t linger •
If you fall in love with something, snap it up straight away otherwise • you’re likely to be disappointed on your second visit. If you’re worried about how to get it home, the BHF off er a free delivery service.
Set your search bar •
While there is nothing quite like the thrill of fi nding something on the shop fl oor, looking online on sites like eBay gives you the option to shop from the comfort of your own home and quickly narrow down your search.
Start small
If you’re new to second-hand shopping, ornaments like vases, clocks and paintings are a great place to start. Mirrors and side lamps are also simple items that can transform spaces. Try to visualise what items will look like in your home. Anything unique that looks like a one-off will stand out and add character. Mix and match
Don’t worry about every piece of furniture or accessory being exactly the same tone and style. If you want to give your home an individual touch, a mix of styles will look fabulous.
Don’t be duped
Finally, if you’re buying vintage, be careful of dupes, there are a lot of good ones out there. The BHF trains all of their shop teams to recognise the true value of donations. Any high value items or unique pieces of electronics or technology are sent to the BHF eBay shop, where experts will assess and value items before listing them on their site.
So, perhaps it’s time to try something a little diff erent and discover all the hidden and unique gems that second-hand shopping has to off er.
by Kirsty McKenzie
Inspiring sustainable living
Meet the indie fi rm that believes small changes can make a big difference to global plastic waste and climate change
Tabitha Eve is among Britain’s most loved sustainable brands and a go-to store for the truly eco conscious. Based in South Wales, the company was established in 2018 by entrepreneur Debbie Rees, who started her own personal war against wastefulness and plastic pollution, leaving behind a career in fi nance.
Debbie said: “I set out to make truly ethically made items that are not only reusable but also beautiful.”
Tabitha Eve now has a huge range of homeware, gifts and beauty products, from plasticfree washing up sponges to washable, reusable cosmetic pads. You’ll fi nd beautifully made items for your kitchen to your bathroom, your hair to your skin care regime, and everything in between.
This indie business sources the most ethically produced raw materials and takes every step to minimise waste both in terms of its products and by off ering ‘imperfect products’ for sale rather than sending to landfi ll.
Most items are made by hand by a talented team of sewists in Pontypridd, and everything is vegan and cruelty free.
Tabitha Eve encourages everyone to switch singleuse purchases for reusable alternatives and has everything you need to build a greener life.
Sustainable surface cleaning tablets
Clean without plastic waste and nasty fumes
NeerSol, a UK-brand, provide sustainable products. Their cleaning tablets (all-purpose, glass, and bathroom) off er a sustainable, and aff ordable way to clean your home eff ortlessly without trashing the planet. Instead of shipping water they just ship the ingredients to signifi cantly reduce transport emissions. Drop a tablet into any reusable spray bottle and add warm water to make a cleaning solution.
The unique selling points and features of the cleaning refi lls are plentiful. With a goal to operate in a more green and ethical manner, the tablets come in a biodegradable plasticfree paper strip, packed in a recyclable paper box. The all-purpose tablets are free from ETDA, alcohol, triclosan, ammonia, parabens, VOCs, phosphates, and chlorine bleach. A small dosage of 350 millilitres works with bottles big or small. The tablets are plastic-free, cruelty free, and nasty fumes-free.
Find out more
Creating safer and healthier homes
In order to tackle climate change, net-zero targets have been introduced around the globe across local, national, and international scales. Reaching net zero, the balance between the amount of greenhouse gases produced and those removed from the atmosphere, is likely to be the most important and pressing challenge society will face during this lifetime.
Homes contributed more than 20% of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions last year* through the burning of fossil fuels for heating and cooking, and this fi gure is signifi cantly higher when including emissions from the production of the electricity that is used. Everyone has a responsibility to reduce their emissions, and they can play an active role by decarbonising their own homes. Navigating this eff ectively and effi ciently will require collaboration and working together towards this shared goal.
With new innovations in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, the notion of a connected home could prove a real asset in making homes not only more sustainable, but also more effi cient and ultimately safer – with a focus on wellbeing. Substantial progress has been made in reducing emissions in other areas such as electricity generation, with the replacement of coal with greener alternatives such as wind and solar. Homes, however, have shown little improvement. New, well-insulated homes go some
way to addressing this, and can make use of IoT to ensure they are performing as promised.
These technologies are not restricted to new homes, however, and there is a real opportunity to use IoT to improve the understanding of existing homes. The UK has some of the oldest housing stock in Europe and this presents its own challenge to decarbonisation. Draughty and poorly insulated homes are more diffi cult to heat and result in substantially higher emissions. Reducing the energy needs of older homes is crucial both in reducing their carbon impact and in tackling fuel poverty. IoT technologies can identify the poorest performing homes to reduce emissions and help to provide aff ordable and healthy living environments.
HomeLINK Environmental Sensors monitor temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels within your home. This provides you with an overview of your home’s indoor conditions, enabling you to make savings on your energy bills and live in a healthier home. Temperature monitoring, alongside the Resident App, gives insight into the energy effi ciency of your property, providing advice on measures you can take to make improvements, and contributes to reducing home energy costs. Humidity and carbon dioxide monitoring within HomeLINK Environmental Sensors help you to manage the quality of the air in your home, ensuring adequate ventilation and air circulation, and identifying preventable issues like damp and mould at an early stage, to positively impact the health and wellbeing of you and your family.
Adding another dimension to home life safety, at Aico they strive to create safer, healthier homes. Aico, an Ei Company, are the European market leader in home-life safety, pioneering new technologies and off ering high quality alarms, developed and manufactured in Ireland. All Aico alarms meet UK standards and off er a variety of sensor types to guarantee protection for every home, the cornerstone of which is delivering education, quality, service and innovation.
In 2020, Aico expanded their Connected Home off ering with the acquisition of leading Internet of Things solutions provider, HomeLINK. HomeLINK are a multiaward-winning high-tech software team within Aico that leverage cutting edge home integration and analytic technologies to address the needs of social landlords and their residents.
