Sustainability and the Environment

Cabbages & Kings Furniture are committed to protecting the natural environment and we adhere to strong environmental principals. Commercially, we could take our designs overseas and have our sofas made from foreign hardwoods for a fraction of the price but with a bigger detrimental effect to the planet. Luckily there are many schemes in place these days to protect overseas deforestation but the transportation and foreign labour issues alone go against our own principles. Did you know that around 85% of the timber we use in this country is imported?

Much of the timber that we use comes from within Cumbria, from trees that are felled for good reason, many of which are dead or windblown (and we've unfortunately had a lot of that in the last couple of winters). To demonstrate our commitment to the future we make a commitment to replace any timber we use by being involved in tree planting schemes, actually, we estimate that we are replanting at least four times the amount of trees we use in our furniture. SEE TREES FOR SOFAS SCHEME.

When you purchase a Cabbages & Kings Green Oak Sofa, you are buying a locally sourced, Craftsman (and woman) made piece of furniture using traditional skills and materials, but you are also investing in a sustainable future and helping to secure our beautiful English landscape.

For every sofa that you buy, we will gift aid a tree to a new planting scheme in your region, we will sponsor a tree in your name, and you will receive a gift certificate that tells you about the scheme and where your tree is planted. We do this through the Woodlands Trust, the UK's leading conservation charity dedicated solely to the protection of our native woodland heritage. The trust is attempting not just to halt destruction, but to create new woods. The Trust cares for over 1,000 woods and has so far planted more than five million trees.

In addition to this, for every sofa sold, we will do the same thing, but for a site in Cumbria, which is where most of our timber comes from. There are many new exciting new community woodland schemes planned for our lovely Lake District area and we are committed to donating lots of trees to the scheme. I nevitably we will be involved in actually trudging out there with our spades to join in, which is what it's all about!

You can always plant a tree yourself without buying a green oak sofa..............
Read more about Oak trees...