Denby leads the way in sustainability with a reloved homewares campaign, simply called ‘Re-loved’. The idea is simple. Encourage homeware owners to think about their purchase and use of homewares in the same way as they are conscious consumers of fashion.
As part of the campaign, Denby commissioned some research into how we use and reuse homewares and the results are astonishing. Around 70 million homeware items are thrown away each year in the UK. Some of those items are unused, unwanted gifts. Others are the result of a house move or downsize. Some are broken and out of use.
Of those surveyed, most said they disliked the idea of throwing away useful items, but didn’t know where to start in terms of how to repair or recycle homewares. A third admitted to throwing away items instead of finding out how to dispose of them sustainably. The younger demographics (those 18-35) were the biggest culprits. They say that part of the reason why they don’t recycle homewares is that they are not sure that anyone would want their discards.
The survey found that homewares are kept on average for 9 years. Nearly half had bought pre-owned and reloved pieces for their homes, which is great news. In addition, most are open to ideas for reusing or recycling their homewares.
To that end, Denby is collaborating with broadcaster Miquita Oliver on the campaign. She is championing collecting vintage and retro homewares to develop a mix of styles. And luckily Denby pottery is a vintage lovers delight as they have been making homewares since 1809, so there is a good chance they could become family heirlooms.
Miquita says “We all have items we’ve bought which we perhaps don’t need or want anymore, but our first port of call for these shouldn’t be the bin. There are so many ways to make sure we’re extending the life of our homewares, from repurposing pieces you love – to finding new creative uses for broken items. And of course, there’s donating good quality items to a charity like Shelter, where people can find pieces to re-love and raise money for an important cause in the process.”
Reloved homewares help Shelter
Denby is also collaborating with Shelter to promote the recycling of homewares. The project ‘Relove with Shelter’ rewards Denby owners who donate online or through a Shelter charity shop with a voucher against future Denby purchases. Unused homeware items in UK homes could, if donated, generate revenue for charities like Shelter of more than £477 million.
If homewares are not suitable for donation and resale or becoming heirlooms, they can be repurposed and Denby has some suggestions in the Reloved section of their website for how to use them around the home and garden.
The Reloved campaign is just one more way that Denby leads the way in sustainability. They have achieved ‘zero to landfill’ on their process waste and under 1% waste across the plant. They have their own water treatment plant and they recycle over 100,000 litres of glaze and 550 tonnes of raw clay a year. Plus of course they package products in sustainable packaging.
Find out more about the Reloved homewares campaign on the Denby website:
