We live in a time when individuals and businesses are looking at their impact on the environment. Being green not only involves minimizing the impact on the environment, it also includes recycling, reusing, conserving energy, and sustainability. Buying green furniture and putting the office furniture in a non-toxic environment (free of toxic materials, cleaners, and odors) is one way for a company to be green. It can often include having the office furniture be green and coming from a company that has standardized green requirements. Sometimes a design must be changed to accommodate a more sustainable and green choice.
Recycled or refurbished office furniture isn’t your only option when choosing office furniture that is green. Greener solutions for furniture production and manufacturing includes powder-based finishing coats because not only are they VOC-free but because it uses less energy with less waste (95% covers the product). Surprisingly there are more and more fabrics that are made from recycled material like soda bottles. These fabrics are being used to upholster chairs for offices. As the need for environmentally friendly office furniture grew, so did the options available to companies that are buying the following types of office furniture:
- Desks
- Chairs
- Cabinets
- Space dividers
- Cubicles
- Tables
When purchasing wood products, look for wood that is from well-managed forests. Avoid furniture made from hard woods and choose softer woods. Herman Miller shook up the office furniture industry before green became fashionable and changed the wood used for some of their upper end furniture from rosewood and Honduran mahogany to walnut and cherry. They have used Forest Stewardship Council-certified rosewood for some of their products. There are a number of agencies that oversee the forestry practices of lumber companies. They also watch over the companies that supply wood and find out the source of where a lumber company gets its wood.
Times have changed when it comes to using recycled wood or reclaimed wood and it is no longer considered “cheap” or are the products considered second rate. Businesses now brag about, document, and announce that they are using these types of woods. No longer are businesses labeled as tree huggers when they are environmentally conscious, it improves a company’s image to be environmentally conscious.
The “protocol for sustainability” includes a rating tool that Herman Miller has adapted for new products, a materials database, disassembly guidelines and training procedures.
The idea came about because more and more customers were asking questions about green attributes of the office furniture that Herman Miller was selling. “We wanted to develop a tool to bring products to market that customers are asking for,” Scott Charon, (commodity manager in new product development at Herman Miller) stated “This is an area where we wanted to be a leader.” Currently many of their customers are now putting environmental considerations ahead of cost.
When a company decides to go green, it can be a generalized commitment to buy and function green or a company can set up specific guidelines and rules. The standard can include only buying merchandise that is certified by a company that oversees things like what materials are used, where materials used came from, the recycling practices of a company, etc. Sometimes it does cost a little more to go green, but it is worth it in the long run for the environment and for company image. The whole office and all work stations may not be able to go green all at once, but it can start with one area and then be systematically implemented throughout the company.
To find out more about green furniture options when buying office furniture, go to Corporate Design Choice. The experts will help you plan, purchase, and set up the office furniture you need for your office to begin the steps towards a more green company.
