Our design principles.
Good design lasts a good long time.
We design everything we make to evolve with you, enduring both time and trends. To make that happen, we create
and test every design in our workshop and in real-life, looking closely at how each part interacts in order to
design a more robust whole.
We put each product through rigorous testing, factory audits and stringent quality control inspections. This not
only reduces factory waste and customer returns, it ensures you enjoy our products for as long as possible. Ultimately,
this reduces excess material and keeps damaged products out of the landfill.
We design everything we make to evolve with you, enduring both time and trends. To make that happen, we create
and test every design in our workshop and in real-life, looking closely at how each part interacts in order to
design a more robust whole.
We put each product through rigorous testing, factory audits and stringent quality control inspections. This not
only reduces factory waste and customer returns, it ensures you enjoy our products for as long as possible. Ultimately,
this reduces excess material and keeps damaged products out of the landfill.
We design everything we make. And everything we make is made with intention.
Our goal is to design long-lasting, high-quality products that fulfill a need or solve a simple design problem — limiting the production and consumption of less efficient or more wasteful alternatives.
Consider the full cycle.
Reducing waste starts with our commitment to a design process that considers each step our product takes from raw materials to the end of its life. We guide how each product is manufactured, packaged, shipped, assembled, cared for, and disassembled. Being hands-on allows us to ensure minimal waste during construction and reduce our environmental impact, as well as ensure our products arrive undamaged and as efficiently as possible.
Reduce foam use.
Foam is one of our biggest contributors to waste. While we’ve already found ways to reduce the amount in our packaging — using the least amount of foam possible while still ensuring safe delivery — we continue to look for innovative ways to reduce our overall packaging footprint. ➔ We continually analyze new and existing packaging designs to optimize material usage and further our reduction goals. ➔ Currently, 41% of all product packaging has zero foam; 34% has less than 5% foam. ➔ By 2026, 60% of all unique packaging designs will have zero foam. 25% will have less than 5% foam and the remaining 15% will have greater than 5% foam, most of which protect fragile products such as marble or glass.
Responsible packaging.
As a company in the single-use packaging industry, we understand the need for responsible material sourcing in both our products and our packaging. ➔ 100% of our shopping bags, accessories packaging and cardboard shipping cartons are recyclable. ➔ Our goal is for all outbound corrugated boxes to contain 45% recycled material on average by 2026. ➔ We plan to utilize FSC® paper in at least 50% of corrugated carton volume by 2026. ➔ We continuously monitor shipping damage data and customer feedback for opportunities to enhance our packaging through improved material selection, placement of materials or configuration of components in packaging. These updates aim to reduce product and packaging waste and improve the overall customer experience.
Efficient shipping.
Considering the realities of how our products move through the world is a key aspect of our design process. To reduce carbon emissions, we developed ways to maximize space when transported— from creative assembly methods to bulk shipping processes that nest and stack. For our high-volume products, typically dining and lounge chairs, we reimagined how we transport products from vendors to our distribution center. Stacking and nesting products into a container, without packaging, has allowed us to increase the number of products shipped by 170%-300% on three of our best-selling collections (Decade, Chip and Between Us). This increase in efficiency ultimately leads to less carbon emissions from ocean transport.
Case Study:
Real Good Chair
SOMETIMES YOU FIND THE ANSWER IN A PIZZA BOX.
Chairs are typically shipped inside oversized boxes, wasting space and valuable resources. We designed a great chair that ships
in a pizza box, allowing us to pack more into each truck. Our Real Good Chair is made from bent tubing and sheet metal that has been specially perforated
to allow the user to take a flat piece and make it three-dimensional by folding on the “dotted line.” It’s a metal origami process that’s truly unique and saves
resources.
Shop the Real Good Chair →
