In England alone, nearly 22 million pieces of furniture are thrown away each year, and fewer than one in ten people make any attempt to repair them. ReVamp Boutique in Maldon, Essex hopes to change this.

Founder and furniture artist, Sarah Ashby-Bassett, has over 25 years’ experience in the world of interior design. Pursuing her childhood reuse passion, she now works with her husband, Simon, using their upholstery and design skills to create desirable pieces such as tables, cocktail cabinets and upholstered chairs out of damaged items. This helps owners to keep hold of their much-loved furniture that may have otherwise ended up in landfill.

Sarah, who has a background in adult education, also offers workshops to teach people upcycling skills they can use at home – a fantastic example of green skill sharing and encouraging positive climate action in Essex.  

Essex County Council’s Climate Czar Peter Schwier headed over to ReVamp Boutique to meet Sarah, share a cuppa and hone his upcycling skills. He said: “A staggering 700,000 tonnes of household waste is collected by Essex County Council every year. ReVamp Boutique is an excellent example of a local business trying to tackle this. Their ethos really underpins the Circular Economy, a principle where we no longer throw anything away but instead our industries are set up to reuse materials carefully. This is something that we in Essex are striving to achieve as part of our ambition towards net zero.”

If you’re an Essex business owner looking to begin your own journey to net zero, download The Climate Action Business Advice Pack here.