Social and Environmental Responsibility
We have combined centuries of traditions with long dormant art forms. Then we have sprinkled in some 21st Century modernising influence to create a neat little package of delightful handiwork that’s as good for you as it is for our artisans and their craft.
We all know firsthand the impact plastic can have on the communities we foster, and the artisans who have made this whole project possible. It’s truly damning. The tiniest improvement each of us can do has a massive impact, and we fully intend to do our bit. To that end, we have been gradually eliminating plastic and non-biodegradable substances from every single one of our crafted pieces. You can then savour our furniture with a clean conscience and an even cleaner environment.
This would all sound a bit rich coming from a furniture company, whose existence – by definition – depends on the gift of trees. However, the timber used in the making of the product is sourced from regulated and commercially planted sources and is fully certified with regard to the relevant responsible forestry laws. Our artisans have been employing community based forestry in some form for over two centuries, and we feel it’s wise to involve them every step of the way in the creation of our pieces. You can rest easy knowing the environment will not be worse off when you open your package.
We do urge you to appreciate the natural occurrences in the wood. The movement of timber, knot configurations, as well as colour, batch, imperfections and grain pattern variations all add to the uniqueness of each individual item. These are an integral part of the handmade craft ecosystems and should not be considered as defects. Your product is not a soulless piece of wood churned out en masse from some factory by machines, it is a living, breathing ecosystem which has found a new place in your home. Every product tells a story. This is yours.
Caring for the wood is easy. Regular light dusting is recommended, as is occasional light waxing on non painted surface. This will refresh and protect the wood.
Wherever fabric is used, we have ensured that the product is fire retardant to comply with the requisite laws. You can rest easy knowing your house is safe from any unintended pyrotechnics.
We are a community, and every piece you buy goes towards the livelihood of an artisan practicing their craft, and their families. Coming from them, thank you. We appreciate your support. You are doing your bit in making once dying arts flourish again, just like the communities they stem from.
In the unlikely event of you not being entirely pleased with our product, simply get in touch with the reseller with whom you have bought it. It is strongly advised to do so within 2 working days so that we can rectify any problems as soon as possible. We would hate to see you unhappy with something we worked so hard to design, build and send to you.
We hope you have many happy years with your new piece of furniture and that it becomes an important part of your home.
As a British company operating from the heart of central London, we unfortunately see the impact of plastic use on a daily basis. We can’t clean up London, nor indeed the world, in one day, but we can certainly do our bit to ensure there’s a bit less plastic being used.
Cloth and paper alternatives may be more expensive to produce and ship, but we feel it’s our ethical responsibility to offer plastic free alternatives to our customers. In addition, it just doesn’t seem right to charge people for doing the right thing. Hence, we’ve made a conscious decision to not change prices for plastic free packaging, and our usual high standards won’t be compromised in any way.
We have started this process already and pledge to remove plastic packaging from our products.
Deforestation is something that we’re incredibly concerned about. While this may seem odd coming from a furniture company, we here at Artisan strive to ensure responsible forestry to let trees flourish while providing work for the hundreds of artisans that have practiced woodwork in their families for generations.
In an effort to strike a balance between quality, handcrafted furniture and the trees that we owe our existence to, we have long pledged to only use wood from commercial regenerative plantations. For our solid mango furniture, we use the wood from trees that have finished their commercial life producing mangoes. This means that we are effectively using waste material that would otherwise have to be burnt to make room for new saplings.
All the timber is EUTR compliant with regard to responsible forestry.
This pledge has never been more relevant, and still stands strong.
Note: If you wish to see any certification then please ask and we will provide you with the most up to date copy.
All the fabric we use in our furniture products has been tested to comply with the very latest Fire-Retardant Standards for BS5852. We keep the certification for all our fabrics and retest the fabric whenever a new batch is manufactured.
Every item will have the necessary hanging tags and also has a stitched in label underneath to confirm it is compliant to the standards.
Note: If you wish to see any certification then please ask and we will provide you with the most up to date copy.
All of our paint and other finishes are lead free.
The finishes are also added to the furniture in enclosed booths that ensure that the atmosphere is not contaminated with the particulates that can be emitted.
We use a product called Biflex TC to protect our products against termites. Biflex offers the longest protection period against termites in a safe, environment friendly and ‘green’ fashion. Biflex creates an invisible termite barrier that will give you peace of mind that comes only in knowing your investment has been protected professionally with the best termiticide treatment available.
We operate in an open and honest way with our suppliers and pride ourselves on prompt payment and maintaining excellent working relationships with them.
Our factories have undergone a Social Audit by a respected assurance company and we have been awarded BSCI compliant certification that shows we look after our workers and their rights.
We do not employ child labour in our factories and we also constantly monitor our suppliers to ensure they do not either. If we do come across any instances during our checks, we immediately cease trading with that company unless and until they comply.
Note: If you wish to see any certification then please ask and we will provide you with the most up to date copy.
We do not use air freight to ship any of our goods from our factories in India.
We use sea freight to move our containers around the world. This is the most efficient method we can use for our mix of products but we acknowledge that there is still much more that the shipping lines can still do to reduce their own carbon footprint.
The carrier companies we use for deliveries from our UK Distribution Centre are striving to reduce their own carbon footprints.
By using wood from trees at the end of their fruit growing life, we remove the need for them to be burnt.