Sustainability Commitment
We have been pursuing sustainability since the day we founded Form & Refine. Sustainable practices have shaped our company culture and a sustainable ethos influences everything we do. We believe that by using sustainable methods we can preserve and even improve our environment by supporting cultures and individuals that rely upon sustainable craft.
We are committed to continuing to improve our own awareness and that of our work- force and partners so as to become fully conscious of the impact of our actions on the natural world. For us, making the world a better place is a way of life.
We are always seeking to learn from and improve upon our past experience and ap- proach sustainability from new and exciting perspectives. This commitment to sustainability is aligned with the UN Global Goals (UNGG) on Sustainability. The UNGGs describe a broad range of global issues and objectives which correspond to the values of our own business. We have divided our sustainabi- lity commitments into the following 5 areas: CO2 Footprint, Durability, Social Equi- ty, Economic Benefits and Natural Materials. You can dive into our 5 sustainability commitments here:
CO2 Footprint
We commit to minimizing our CO2 footprint by sourcing local materials and making use of local workshops. Our goal is to have the sourcing and processing of materials all take place within a radius of 100 km.
We produce our furniture and wooden accessories in Europe only. We do not source timber from any location which is not in close proximity to our workshops. For that reason, we neither work with Teak or Mango Wood from South America and Asia nor with Oak from North America. This decision helps us minimize our CO2 impact im- mensely.
In addition, we use ships or trucks as means of transporting our materials and avoid air transportation.
Close co-operation with Damsbo Forest
We are proud to be co-owners of the privately owned Damsbo Forest on the Danish island of Funen, one of the few forests left with high-quality wood for premium furniture.
When the forest’s natural balance allows it, we fell trees and use the wood in the production of our Danish-made furniture. Thus, the entire production takes place on Danish soil, from the first sprouting seeds to the final product. With full trans- parency we can therefore say that our wooden furniture produced in collaboration with Damsbo Forest is made of locally sourced materials in 100% Danish design. We have learned a great deal from our co-ownership of Damsbo Forest. One of the most significant lessons we have learned is how demanding good forestry is, and that sustainable methods are the only way to preserve a forest over time. The soci- al and environmental value of the forest affects the choices we make every single day.
For example, the number of trees that we cut and harvest is entirely dependent upon how the forest is developing. When we cut down one tree we must, at mini- mum, plant 200 new trees to ensure that there is at least one single 140-year-old premium Oak Tree standing for generations to come. That means that we must plant around 9 to 10 thousand new trees every single year. We are proud of our tree planting commitment and the positive impact this has for Damsbo Forest and for the wider environment.
Trees store a high amount of carbon dioxide (also known as CO2) by drawing existing carbon out of the atmosphere. When trees are cut down, it is important that the carbon they contain is not released again into the atmosphere. That is why we avoid burning any wood in our workshops.
The Damsbo Forest is PEFC-certified.
Our Goal:
– Our goal is that the maximum radius for the sourcing and processing of our ma- terials never exceed 100 km.