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‘Fast furniture’ is cheap, stylish and clogging landfills
Mass-produced and relatively cheap, they are also easy to abandon.
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Wayfair's distribution centre in the US. Wayfair has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 63 per cent by 2035.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Debra Kamin
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Americans bought piles of furniture during the coronavirus pandemic, with sales on desks, chairs and patio equipment jumping by more than US$4 billion (S$5.7 billion) from 2019 to 2021, according to a market data company. And a lot of it won’t survive the decade.
Fast furniture, which is mass-produced and relatively inexpensive, is easy to obtain and then abandon. Like fast fashion, in which retailers such as Shein and Zara produce loads of cheap, trendy clothing that’s made to be discarded after only a few wears, fast furniture is for those looking to hook up but not settle down. It’s the one-season fling of furnishings.
