What is Fast Furniture and How to Avoid it

Have you heard of fast fashion? If not, you might be living under a rock, like Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants, but that’s okay! Let me summarize it for you:

*ChatGPT Voice*

“Fast Fashion is a segment of the fashion industry where cheap clothes are made from cheap materials at high speeds. These clothes typically only last a couple of washes and then have to be replaced. This, along with trends that move at breakneck speeds, encouraged by social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, keeps the fast fashion industry in perpetual motion. It’s not hard to imagine the inevitable downstream effects from this industry that are already in full effect.”

*Gasps for air*

Unfortunately, the same can now be said for the furniture industry, which includes gaming chairs.

Fast furniture is also known as disposable furniture. It follows the same principles as fast fashion: it’s made to be affordable, temporary, and easily replaced so the manufacturers can maximize profit. These chairs are made with low-quality materials and are manufactured quickly in large quantities to meet high demand. New desk setups and aesthetic decorating trends make the desire to purchase new pieces at a good price all the more appealing.

Despite the price, there are several pitfalls of buying a disposable gaming chair. Instead, look for quality materials and designs. We’ll walk you through the following considerations of this important decision:

1. The Unseen Price of Fast Furniture
2. The Environmental Impacts
3. The Havoc on Health
4. Solutions: How to Avoid Disposable Gaming Chairs

The Unseen Price of Fast Furniture

Disposable gaming chairs are typically made with low-quality materials, such as particleboard and thin plastic, which often break and warp over time. These materials are made to be disposable, forcing the customer to buy another version again and again. This is okay if you’re planning to change your gaming setup constantly, which is what this industry depends on. But despite seeming more affordable to begin with, needing to replace your gaming chair can end up costing more than if you simply invested in a higher quality one to begin with.

In fact, many of our everyday items aren’t designed to last.

In a world where convenience and affordability is favoured over quality and sustainability, the end user is the one who pays. If you have to buy a new chair every few years because it's uncomfortable and keeps falling apart, you will not only end up spending more money but also more time and energy replacing it. Some chairs and furniture are even intentionally designed to be difficult to fix, making it more convenient to simply buy new again. Now broken and unusable, these faulty chairs end up in landfills and pollute our environment and communities, another serious downside to fast furniture.

Environmental Impacts of Fast Furniture

The most notable problem with the fast furniture industry is its environmental impact. According to the United States Environmental Protection agency, approximately 9.7 million tons of furniture was landfilled in 2018. Not to mention the millions of pieces that don’t make it to landfills and end up rotting on street corners and in back alleys. To add to this unfortunate outcome, the materials found in fast furniture are often non-biodegradable and cannot be recycled. Lots of our so-called “donated” goods get sent overseas where they often don’t even get used and end up in the ocean.

Aside from waste, the production of fast furniture requires a significant amount of energy and resources, including water, fossil fuels, and chemicals. Since the majority of these mass-produced items are manufactured overseas, energy consumption from ocean freight transportation is significant. These factors add to air pollution, water contamination, and resource depletion which has long-term side effects on the environment and human health in general.

Fast Furniture’s Havoc on Human Health

Another devastating issue with fast furniture is its negative impact on human health. Many of these chairs are made with synthetic materials, basically different types of plastic, which release gas and other harmful chemicals into the air during manufacturing. This can lead to respiratory issues, headaches, and other health problems in areas where factories are located. The chemicals also seep into water sources next to landfills or dump sites, and now microplastics can be found in almost everything we consume. The long term effects of microplastics on human health has yet to be determined.

Additionally, the workers who manufacture fast furniture are often underpaid and overworked, creating poor working conditions and even human rights violations. Companies try to keep overhead expenses low by paying their employees as little as possible and paying minimal attention to the working conditions. We have seen this practice in the fast fashion industry, so it is likely to occur elsewhere where affordability and quantity is favoured over quality.

Similarly, PU leathers often contain high levels of the following toxic materials and prolonged close proximity can lead to eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, dizziness, and other health issues..

• Conflict Minerals
• Flame Retardants
• Heavy Metal Stabilizers
• PFOAs (Perfluorooctanoic Acid)
• Plasticizer Phthalates
• POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants)
• PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)
• Other toxic by-products

Very little thought is put into design or comfort in fast furniture, so most people will get sore because of these chairs before long.

Lastly, the most comfortable gaming chair will definitely not be of the disposable variety. The goal of these fast furniture businesses is to attract customers with their affordable prices and visually appeal. This is why the bucket seat gaming chair trend has been so popular. There’s nothing cooler than the looks of a racing chair, but the bucket structure is actually terrible for your posture and health. Without the best custom ergonomic gaming chair fit for your body, sitting for hours a day could lead to long term health issues such as chronic back pain, sciatica, and circulation damage.

Solutions: How to Avoid Disposable Gaming Chairs

Choosing a gaming chair that is built to last has many benefits: it’s environmentally sustainable, health conscious, and it actually saves money, time, and energy in the long run. Buying from a trusted local gaming chair manufacturer that uses high-quality materials will have high-quality employment standards too. Chairs from these suppliers will last a life-time (with the odd replacement part), keeping toxic materials out of landfills and the surrounding environment while supporting local communities in the process.

Instead of following trends that are bound to change, and before you know it will be out of style, invest in a timeless custom gaming chair that represents your personal taste. In reality, trends always come back around, so a classic, high-quality, handmade design is something you’d be proud to use for years to come (and maybe even pass on to your kids one day).

At LF Gaming™, we hold these principles close to our hearts and operations, by handcrafting every chair in our local shop in Calgary Alberta, using high quality designs and materials from sustainable sources. Not only that, but our focus on personalized ergonomics ensures that our customers have a fully supportive chair that leads to improved comfort and health.

Click here to find the best custom gaming chair fit personally for you.