The "green" architect, who holds a PhD in design technology and innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, believes everyone should lend a hand in preserving the environment. For Osisu, of which he is the principal designer, turning industrial, construction and consumer waste into raw materials for artful pieces of furniture is one answer.

"On average, people produce waste amounting to 2.5 kilos per person per day. Waste is also enormous in my profession. We, the designers, produce waste amounting to 40 million tonnes a year largely because we need to order at least 10 per cent more materials than we actually use," says Singh, who is also a lecturer at Kasetsart University's school of architecture.

"I'm quite concerned by the way we harm the environment. In the field of design technology, for instance, we often make sure that the buildings we design are really energy-efficient and that we properly treat the waste so as to minimise negative environmental effects. In short, we want to promote sustainable development.

"As for waste, I think it's great to recycle it as raw material for making furniture and other products. In my case, most things will do. We've created products using waste aluminium, steel, fibreglass, wood, leather and rubber. We even produce nice handbags with materials such as shredded paper put inside two layers of plastic sheets.

"Thrown-away juice cartons, soft-drink cans, copper wiring from computers and other electronic stuff, or waste from construction sites, are all potential raw materials for our items. However, plywood scraps are the most used material for my works," he says.

For the past year, Singh and his business partner, Veeranuch Tanchookiat, Osisu's international account manager, have jointly created more than 100 designs of furniture made from plywood scraps.

Each of the works is unique because they are all handmade. As a result, the price is higher than mass-market items manufactured in huge quantities by machinery.

"In my view, machine-made items may be much cheaper than our works, but that price is in fact not the actual price. For example, a life-cycle assessment shows that the replacement cost of a piece of furniture will also include greenhouse effects because of the damage caused to our environment or ecological system as a result of felling trees to get virgin wood for making the furniture.

"On the other hand, we need to pay extra labour cost when we use recycled parquet wood as a material, for instance, because we need to peel off all the glue underneath and clean the pieces before we can fit them properly into new pieces of furniture.

"That could be seen as a cost of helping to save the environment," Singh explains.

"Given the nature of our enterprise, we can produce only a limited quantity of each work. Mostly, there are just 10 to 20 pieces in each of the designs. Sometimes, we also run out of raw materials since their supply is limited too. As a result, many items are sort of a limited edition.

"Business-wise, it's still difficult to make a profit because there are not yet many Thais who are serious about helping to protect the surroundings. This kind of green furniture is still a very premium product in the local market. However, we've also tapped the export market via representative outlets in Los Angeles and Paris. Our website, osisu.com, is also our marketing channel. We also join the local furniture trade exhibitions to promote our products.

"Hopefully, the Thai furniture industry will also upgrade itself to become a global production base for green furniture.

"We need to differentiate our products to stay competitive in the long run, because we cannot compete on price forever. Towards this direction, we need to focus more on R&D [research and development], not C&D - copy and develop.

"In our case, our product positioning is clear, as we strive for the best in contemporary designs inspired by our environmental concerns. We're no copycats.

"We hope that more Thais as well as foreigners will become aware of our cause and appreciate what we're doing," says Singh.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

nop1122@yahoo.com