Last week, California-based high-end home furnishings company, Restoration Hardware, delivered 17 pounds of glossy, full-color catalogs—largely unsolicited—all around LA. As far as we can tell, nearly all of these catalogs were then promptly delivered to everyone’s respective big blue recycling bins.
Really, Restoration Hardware? Well-done fighting the whole ‘print is dead’ concept tooth + nail, and I’m sure the printer you used is thrilled, along with UPS, who must have seen a massive spike in profits last week thanks to you, but, really? 17 pounds. 13 books. 100 pages just on leather. Just leather. All straight into the recycling bin.
Robbie Vorhaus of HuffPo explains further:
“Over the past couple weeks Restoration Hardware began mailing 13 unsolicited bundled ‘Source Books,’ a collection of ‘4 Lifestyle Books,’ and ‘9 Category Books,’ which they tout as ‘Over 3,300 Pages of Curated & Inspired Design.’ Further, as part of the immense mailing, Restoration Hardware includes a separate printed sheet titled, ‘Our Source Book Sustainability Initiative,’ which informs ‘1. Our Collection of Source Books is Mailed Once a Year. 2. Our Paper is Forest Certified, 3. We Are The Founding Sponsor of The Verso Forest Certification Grant Program,’ and ‘4. Our Shipping Is Carbon Neutral.'”
Oh, well at least you’re offsetting your shipping by purchasing carbon neutral tokens. Yay.
What the fuck, Restoration Hardware? Ever heard of the internet? Look it up in your encyclopedia, why don’t you.
