At the end of last year, the International Facility Management Association asked members for some predictions about 2012. A total of 57% were re-using furniture or supplies or planned to do so as part of sustainability efforts — only 34% had no plans to try this. In another study by the same organization, 92% of respondents had implemented some kind of recycling plan, and the other 8% planned to do so.
In other words, all of the respondents were concerned about the environment. Everyone was recycling or planning to recycle something, and only about one third of the respondents had no plans to recycle furniture or supplies.
If you’re recycling paper, cardboard, or cans… maybe 2013 is the year to think about recycling furniture.
What gets in the way of reusing furniture? Quite simply, the pieces that are no longer used in the company are not the same pieces that are needed elsewhere in the company. You can’t move those extra task chairs into the cafeteria where they need extra seating. You can’t move the extra desk from reception into the IT department for the new programmer. Putting the beige cubicle from the first floor onto the seventh floor where the cubicles are black seems to send a message about the person who ends up using it.
Chances are, you won’t happen to meet someone who needs an extra task chair and is ready to swap some cafeteria seating for it.
Fortunately, there’s EthoSource.
EthoSource has an enormous stock of pre-owned furniture and refurbished cubicles. The scale of our operation means that we can find homes for your extra task chairs and get the cafeteria seating you need.
We’re the missing piece that makes reusing furniture practical.
So why not let 2013 be the year that you move on from recycling in the break room to upcycling in the board room? Contact us to discuss your needs.