5 ways Studio Tuft rugs are Eco- friendly, Green & sustainable .
Welcome to part 1 of my green blog series. Sustainability and eco friendly practices are really important to me and something I think a lot with my business. Here are a few of my thoughts and how I try to keep sustainable.
Sourcing yarns
I use dead stock wools from the often picking wools that would otherwise not be sold as they are such a small quantity or they are the result of over dying from large companies.
When large carpet manufactures order wools for carpets and rugs they often either over dye or over order wools leaving a surplus of the colour. This is what I buy from distributers.
It is high quality and usually some very unique colours.
The wools are all from the UK.
2. Packaging
I try to make sure my packaging is 100% recyclable which is why I now wrap each rug in brown paper and corrugated card for postage securing it with paper tape.
It is important to me that I lower my impact on the planet.
For orders out of the UK I do use a plastic bubble wrap as they will be traveling further and for longer time.
3. Small batch making
It’s just me making the rugs and so I am only using the resources for 1 person and only using what I need to make each rug.
The quality of my rugs is high and I expect them to last a long time, that means people make a considered purchase and it wont end up in landfill in 2 years.
I try to have around 20-40 rugs in stock so I am not over making work and using up un-nessesary resources.
4. Waste products
I try to use everything I possibly can and not waste anything.
I reuse the offcuts of fabric when I can to sew to smaller pieces to make smaller rugs or wall hangings.
There are lots of excess strands that happen when tufting and the finishing I will be creating some large floor cushions which I will aim to fill with the excess wool.
5. Electricity
My compressor takes up a bit of energy I try to not keep my tutfing gun blowing out air if im not using it, as the more air used means the compressor will kick back in to top up the pressure.
The ceiling on my studio is corrugated plastic so it doubles as a large window so I often don’t need the light on at all.
I am always striving to do better but I believe I run my small tufted rug making business is fairly sustainable and green way.