A new awareness

The conservation of natural resources is not a question for Zeitraum, but a matter of course: since its founding in 1990, the furniture manufacturer has exclusively used solid wood from sustainable forestry in its production. In addition, the furniture is repaired and refurbished at the site in Wolfratshausen in Upper Bavaria. Zeitraum customers can now also take advantage of this service in Berlin and the surrounding area – Tim Köhnken, sustainability officer at Zeitraum, has founded a partner workshop appropriately named Kreislauf together with his brother Max. In the coming years, a Germany-wide network is to be established. "As a partner workshop, we know very well how the furniture is built, which surface materials are used and which fittings are needed. We have some spare parts in stock, others we order directly from Zeitraum. Even individual table legs, bed parts or upholstery elements can be replaced if necessary. Customers can contact Zeitraum or Kreislauf directly for this," he says.

To ensure that the furniture can be repaired or refreshed quickly and easily, Zeitraum only uses robust hardwoods that are primarily treated with hard wax oils during production. The advantage: these surfaces can also be maintained by the customers, and Zeitraum supplies the necessary utensils with the furniture. "Our goal is not for our customers to buy a new table every five years, but rather a product that, in the best case, can be used by more than one generation," explains Köhnken. Creating a new awareness for the value of wooden furniture, awakening the joy of caring for it and repairing it when necessary, that is the goal of Zeitraum and its partner workshop Kreislauf. "As a sustainability officer and passionate craftsman, it is above all important to me to convey that the furniture, into which so much work has gone, should be valued more again. And that it is worthwhile to preserve good products – not only for the sake of our environment, but because it makes us happy. I think we often lose sight of that in our fast-paced everyday lives," says Tim Köhnken.

In order to offer customers simple orientation as to whether a natural product is also convincing in terms of sustainable value creation, Zeitraum has introduced a transparent sustainability rating for its products, the "Furniture Footprint". The basis is provided in each case by the question of economic, ecological and social sustainability and a look at objective life cycle assessment data. The result can be read on the basis of an intuitively understandable traffic light system. Zeitraum's holistic approach to reflective consumption is a complete success: in 2021, the idea was awarded the German Sustainability Award.

ZEITRAUM
Äußere Münchner Straße 2
82515 Wolfratshausen
werkstatt@zeitraum-moebel.de

Circulation Workshop
Modersohnstrasse 35-45
10245 Berlin
info@kreislaufkonzepte.com