The Ethical Chair

The Ethical Chair will be known as a responsible destination for no-longer-needed furniture; will be contributing to a thriving repair culture in Vancouver; and will be spoken of as a place to purchase quality used furniture for a fair price. TEC will be a network of organizations and employ dozens of people from backgrounds all over the world, providing training and mentoring to employees that will assist them in developing and adapting their skills for the Canadian job market. Partnering businesses will feature TEC artisan-created pieces in their shopfronts around the city. TEC will have expanded to include furniture restoration workshops and workspace for local residents who want to extend the lifespan of their own beloved pieces. 

Still-useful furniture in landfills makes roughly 4000 tonnes of waste in Vancouver every year, currently. There are insufficient locations and processes for receiving previously-used furniture, resulting in a culture of disposing of furniture rather than reselling, refurbishing, and rehoming.

The Ethical Chair (TEC) will provide reclaimed and upcycled furniture to people looking to purchase pre-owned pieces in the Greater Vancouver area. This furniture will be sourced through a partnership with Big Brothers of Vancouver and other charities that can receive and deliver donations from people who likely would otherwise send their furniture to the landfill. Our employees will be refugees/recent immigrants. Furniture will receive in-house heat treatment to ensure they are pest free, and pieces obtained will be either resold as-is, restored/reupholstered, transformed into unique artisan pieces, or broken down into their elements for optimal recycling.

The Ethical Chair will significantly reduce the amount of furniture that goes into Vancouver landfills, and will reduce the reliance on cheap and easily broken furniture for families of limited means by providing a cost effective alternative with longer life spans. It will provide employment for refugees and recent immigrants, supporting them in their transition to working life in Canada and tapping in to their considerable skills and experiences from re-use and repair cultures.