Sustainability

Sustainability is important to me. It's hard to do everything perfectly but I want to share with you the measures I am taking and take responsibility for 'work in progress'.

Whilst Fresh Made Designs is relatively new, I have been running my Interior Design practice Fresh Traditions for over 15 years and started looking at how I could make my business more sustainable over 10 years ago.

As a result when I started looking at designing patterns for fabric, I knew from outset that I wanted it to be as sustainable as possible.

There is an immense amount of waste in the interiors fabric industry. As an experienced interior designer used to working closely with those making curtains, blinds and accessories, I am using that knowledge to try and reduce waste.

1. By understanding the effect the size of 'pattern repeat' has on the quantity of fabric required.

2. By offering customisable designs to work with your existing furnishings - hopefully reducing the amount of textiles that are disposed of 'because they were never quite right'.

Measures I take as a business

  • I choose suppliers carefully. The companies I am working with to print my designs are UK based and use eco-friendly printing techniques.
  • I will adapt patterns to save fabric where possible.
  • I offer my designs in a choice of fabrics and am happy to guide clients to the most sustainable fabric choices for a particular project.
  • It's very difficult to run a 'paperless' office when you design, but I do consider paper usage. For example I no longer buy magazines (I read electronically) and accept as few product brochures as possible.
  • When using techniques like printing, marbling or watercolour I save spare papers and off-cuts to use as backgrounds or in collages.
  • Where I offer packaging fro products I try to use as little plastic as I can (zero where at all possible)