0:07
Hi, this is Anita, the global trade gal.
0:10
You know, we live in this world where
0:11
the climate change, there's a lot of
0:13
climate change going on. There's
0:17
There's a lot of environmental, you
0:19
know, issues going on. These are, you
0:21
know, there's daily headlines of this.
0:23
In fact, I just read this morning in a
0:25
newspaper about how hot the United
0:27
States was becoming this summer. in
0:30
several parts of the United States. So
0:31
you see this all the time going on
0:33
whether it's either extreme cold,
0:35
extreme heat or there's these extreme
0:38
weather changes going on. You know,
0:40
Mura, we believe that the hope of home
0:42
decor lies at the intersection of
0:44
thoughtful design and ethical sourcing.
0:47
For us, sustainability is isn't just a
0:49
buzzword. It's a business model. And I
0:52
want to talk a little bit about
0:53
sustainability and and why we believe in
0:56
sustainability. You know, our commitment
0:59
starts in Southeast Asia. A lot of the
1:00
things we produce here, where we work
1:01
closely with artisans and producers to
1:04
source eco-friendly materials that
1:06
support both the planet and local
1:08
communities. And I'm going to talk a
1:11
little bit about some of those planets.
1:13
But first, let me talk a little bit
1:14
about why Southeast Asia and in
1:16
particular for us it's it's Vietnam. You
1:18
know, Southeast Asia is positioned as a
1:21
global hub for sustainable material
1:23
sourcing. is region which has a lot of
1:25
these sustainable materials like bamboo
1:28
uh ratan water hyasin all of these
1:32
things are readily available in
1:35
countries like Vietnam, Indonesia,
1:37
Philippines and Thailand. So they're
1:40
rich in the law raw material. You know
1:43
some of the materials that we trust and
1:45
that we like include bamboo which bamboo
1:48
basically is a grass. It's considered to
1:49
be the super grass. Some bamboo will
1:52
grow up to a meter in a day. It's very
1:54
fast growing. It requires very little
1:56
water. It's it's pest resistant. It's
2:00
just an amazing amazing material. You
2:03
know, it can be harvested without
2:04
killing the entire root system in making
2:07
a plant that's renewable. We can use
2:10
bamboo in a lot of different ways. You
2:11
can use it for lighting. You can use it
2:13
for furniture, mirrors. Vietnam does a
2:15
process here called spun bamboo where
2:17
they where they take the bamboo, strip
2:18
the bamboo down and then they sort of
2:20
spin the bamboo around and make it a
2:21
variety of shapes. It can also be made
2:24
into strips and woven. So there's lots
2:26
of different ways that bamboo can be
2:28
used. Water hyestin is also another
2:30
plant. Used to be many years ago that
2:32
water hyasin was considered this
2:34
invasive sort of terrible plant. I
2:37
remember living in Thailand and seeing
2:39
it in the waterways of you know places
2:41
like Thailand would literally choke the
2:42
waterways and you know a boat would be
2:45
driving along and all of a sudden a boat
2:47
would stop because the water hyasin
2:50
would sort of like choke the water and
2:52
stop the boats. It would kill the
2:53
wildlife, kill the fish. So then people
2:56
began to discover, well, we can take
2:57
this plant and we can dry it and then we
3:00
can basically use it to weave, we can
3:02
dye it, we can paint it, and we can
3:05
basically make a lot of great products
3:07
out of this plant, which was once
3:08
considered this huge uh nuisance. So
3:11
that's a great example again of people
3:13
using their ingenuity and saying like,
3:15
look, we have this plant here. How do we
3:17
be able to use this plant and put it to
3:19
some type of use? So we work with local
3:22
weavers in Vietnam, you know, to be able
3:24
to turn water, dried water hyen into
3:26
baskets, trays, and furniture accents.
3:30
Recycled wood is also another one. And
3:32
recycled wood has been gaining more
3:34
popularity. It, you know, it is a very
3:36
specific look. It's not a look that
3:38
every company can use, but it is a great
3:40
look. You know, there's certain clients
3:41
that really like it because it's
3:43
sustainable. Was once used for one
3:45
purpose is now being used again.
3:49
It can be used. A wide range of home
3:50
decor products from furniture to lamps
3:53
to mirrors to other types of accessories
3:56
can all be used using recycled wood.
3:59
There's other types of wood which is
4:00
considered fast growing wood species or
4:03
wood um you know wood that that
4:07
basically can be renewed quite easily.
4:09
You know woods like teak or oak would
4:12
take decades to mature. But in contrast,
4:15
you have these fast growing type of
4:16
woods, accassia, rubber wood, mango
4:18
wood, which grow very fast, can be
4:21
harvested sustainably within a few
4:22
years. You these woods are often
4:25
byproducts of agricultural industries,
4:27
which means using them adds value to
4:29
what otherwise be waste. Years ago,
4:32
rubber wood used to be considered a
4:33
waste wood. They didn't know what to do
4:34
with the wood. The wood couldn't be used
4:36
for anything because the rubber was
4:38
still inside the wood. And then they
4:41
discovered this vacuum. If they vacuumed
4:43
it out, they had machines they sort of
4:45
like, you know, sort of like vacuum out
4:46
the rubber. Then it makes a beautiful
4:48
hardwood. It makes a great hardwood. Can
4:50
be used in many different ways. This is
4:52
a great example of somebody taking a
4:54
wood that was once a waste and they
4:56
would just burn the wood to wood that
4:59
now can be used and can be considered
5:04
At Maduro, we also try to ensure that
5:06
our wood uses from managed plantations
5:08
and carries certifications where
5:10
possible. You know, this can result in
5:12
beautiful sturdy furniture that doesn't
5:14
cost the earth, but at the same time,
5:17
you know, it doesn't destroy our earth
5:19
either. So, it's a wood that basically
5:21
helps the earth. So, there's different
5:22
ways that you can, you know, you you
5:23
select the materials is through research
5:25
and testing. You can look at supplier
5:28
audits, look at the suppliers and what
5:29
the suppliers are doing. design,
5:31
collaboration, work together with our
5:34
customers to be able to get the best
5:36
type of material possible
5:38
and to try to give more, you know,
5:40
transparency into things. And and that's
5:42
part of the reason why I do these
5:43
podcasts or or we do videos, you know,
5:46
the videos that we do is to be able to
5:47
tell the story and to be able to let
5:49
people understand the story that we want
5:51
to tell about sustainability. You know,
5:54
that sustainability in hand can go hand
5:57
in hand that you know, you don't have to
5:59
really separate the two. They don't have
6:00
to be two separate goals that you can
6:01
make them one goal together that you can
6:04
try to be, you know, innovative and use
6:06
materials which are sustainable and at
6:09
the same time can give a beautiful
6:11
product and a beautiful look. We can
6:13
also, you know, tell stories with it.
6:15
You know, when you have a reclaimed
6:16
piece of furniture, reason why I'm I'm
6:18
love reclaimed furniture, wood that's
6:20
been used before is it sort of tells the
6:22
story. It tells a story of furniture
6:24
that was once used or scrapped away or
6:26
maybe would have been burned and instead
6:28
made into a beautiful piece of
6:30
furniture. I've always loved that story.
6:32
I'm someone who's always appreciated
6:34
that kind of story that they're not just
6:36
objects, but this really is something
6:38
that has a history to it and has a story
6:40
to it. So, if you're interested in this
6:43
at Menuro, we would love to be able to
6:45
help you to be able to look at, you
6:46
know, ways that you can become more
6:48
stain sustainable or sustainable
6:50
materials that you could use. We'd love
6:52
to be able to talk to you more about
6:53
this, talk about things that we could
6:55
develop together in the home decor and
6:57
home furnishing. We could um talk about
7:00
different types of materials you could
7:01
use. We collaborate together with you to
7:04
get the right designs. We'll make sure
7:06
that the quality is up to the standards
7:08
you need. We really consider ourselves
7:10
an ethical manufacturer. We work with
7:12
workshops and factories that we ensure
7:15
use fair labor practices and are
7:17
environmentally responsible. If you'd
7:19
like to be able to read more about this,
7:21
we have written a a blog post on this
7:23
entitled uh sourcing sustainable
7:25
materials in Southeast Asia for home
7:27
decor. If you're not in the home decor
7:29
industry, but you're in another
7:30
industry, you can still look to be able
7:32
to make sustainability one of your goals
7:35
if everybody did a little bit of that.
7:38
And then imagine what a different place
7:39
the world would be and how much better
7:41
the world would be if we all looked at
7:43
sustainability as one of our goals when
7:46
it came to manufactur. This is Anita
7:48
from the Global Trade Gal. Thank you so
7:49
much. Being part of our community, we
7:51
hope that you will join with us. If you
7:53
haven't joined with us already, press
7:55
that subscribe button and become part of
7:57
our community and part of us. And we'd
7:59
love to hear from you if you have any
8:00
questions or comments. Thank you so