Anesley is the CEO of B2C Furniture, revolutionising the way consumers purchase more sustainably made furniture. Anesley believes we must take climate action now for the sake of humankind and future generations. Read more about Anesley and B2C Furniture's story here.
Can you tell us about B2C Furniture?
At B2C Furniture, we have a deep desire to make furniture with substance and style affordable to the environmentally conscious consumer. We have built the business from ground up focusing on three cornerstones at the soul of its existence; Hardwood Furniture that is sustainable and affordable. The difference between B2C Furniture and majority of its competitors is that we have a profound distaste for ‘fast furniture’ which ultimately end up in landfill.
Our mission is to provide our Australian community with timeless, enduring furnishings, whilst offering excellent customer service. We make substance and style affordable by directly sourcing furniture from trusted manufacturers, cutting out the inflated mark-ups of the “middleman”.
Our sustainable hardwood timber ensures each customer receives the highest value products, whilst empowering our community with sustainable consumer habits and reducing the damage "fast furniture" has on our precious planet.
Why is B2C Furniture taking climate action?
I grew up in a time where climate change, global warming and its consequences were first starting to be discussed. Fast forward 30 years, I'm now in my forties, and we are experiencing its adverse effects.
Scientists predict that by 2050 the Earth’s temperature will be three degrees higher, leading to severe, widespread and irreversible damage. Our society will have to cope with multiple disasters simultaneously – low lying areas underwater across the world and parts of our very own country inhabitable due to extreme heat. It is erroneous to think that this threat lies in the distant future so we need not care. It's happening right now. All around us. We need to act.
When my daughter was born, I suddenly saw the world in a new light. The awe-inspiring feeling of pure love, the enormous gratitude of being blessed with a life so precious, and the overwhelming feeling of wanting to protect her and her future.
The notion of leaving her a broken planet due to our wasteful, negligent lifestyle cut me to the core. What am I supposed to say when she grows up and asks, “How could you know this was going to happen and not do anything about it?” Hence, the reason I made a conscious decision to focus on sustainable hardwood timber which ensures each customer receives the highest value products, whilst empowering our community with sustainable consumer habits and reducing the damage "fast furniture" has on our precious planet.
Can you tell us about your commitments to climate action?
Sustainability is no longer a buzz word. It is an integral part of lives and necessary to future proof our planet. With this in mind, we are in the process of establishing a program to gather statistics from various business to show that been green and sustainable is not only good for the planet but also good for business…
For example, “Couriers Please” recently conducted a survey which discovered that;
- 46% of shoppers under 30 would be willing to purchase an ethical & sustainably sourced product at a higher price point
- 87% of consumers concerned about the environment and request greater transparency from retailers
- 9 out 10 consumers are more likely to purchase ethical and sustainable products if they had the option
We are using these stats to prove that there is a change in sentiment from consumers towards ethical and sustainable products to empower suppliers to rethink the materials they use to manufacture and package furniture.
Our belief is that if we could convince large global furniture manufactures to adopt ethical and sustainable practices there will be significant decrease in greenhouse gases and landfill and increase in recycling, which will help every single one of us blessed to inhabit this beautiful planet.
Is there a project you are working on that you are excited about?
In addition to the program listed above, we have taken a number of other business initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases including;
- Encouraging employees to work from home or traveling car free. Cars are more polluting compared to other means of transportation like walking, biking or using public transport
- Minimising our flying habits and using alternatives such as zoom to correspond with our overseas suppliers. Planes run on fossil fuels, and we haven’t figured out a scaleable alternative so avoiding this mode of transport as much as possible makes sense
It can be said that making small changes to our lifestyle will not have much of an impact on climate change, but I don’t believe this is true. In fact, social scientists have found that when one person makes a sustainability-oriented decision, other people do too.
This occurs because we constantly evaluate what our peers are doing, and we adjust our beliefs and actions accordingly.
No matter who you are, climate change will have an impact on your life, and we all must do what we can to future proof our planet.
What real-world opportunities have you uncovered from taking climate action today?
By focusing on sustainability as a key cornerstone of our business we have had the opportunity to build a community of like-minded consumers who share our values and beliefs. They actively promote our business to family and friends. We are in a privileged position where are customers are truly our advocates.
What climate action would you like to see Australia take?
I believe Federal Governments worldwide can take action by divesting funds out of high-emission industries such as fossil fuels and reward business that;
- Utilise renewable energy
- Have documented business process/programs to proactively reduce climate change
- Have an ethical & sustainable sourcing policy and audit suppliers to ensure resources such as timber are harvested from renewable forests
Governments have an obligation to take care of its people. This can be achieved by encouraging or subsidising businesses to operate in a manner that will benefit all of mankind and protect our planet.