Green office furniture minimizes environmental impact, including used, refurbished, or recycled content. Furniture that protects air quality and can be easily recycled after use is also considered green. Purchasing used or recycled furniture saves resources and energy. Furniture designed to last longer and made with low VOC or formaldehyde-free materials is also green. Green lighting solutions use less energy and can provide lighting for many hours. Look for certifications like Cradle to Cradle, GreenGuard, or LEED to ensure sustainability.
Green office furniture is any type of office furniture that minimizes its impact on the environment. This includes furniture that has been used, refurbished or manufactured using recycled content. It also includes furniture made to protect the office’s air quality and can be easily recycled after use. Virtually any type of furniture – such as desks, chairs, desks and even lighting – can be considered green office furniture if it meets these criteria.
Purchasing used office furniture is a way for business owners or employees to exercise their environmental awareness. Purchasing recycled office furniture means that no new or finite resources were used to make the furniture or to help build it. For example, buying a used table protects trees from being cut down, reduces the energy needed to create the table in a factory, and saves the fuel needed to ship the table from the manufacturer to the store.
Green office furniture can also be furniture that is specially designed to withstand many more years of use than the average piece of furniture. Office furniture is used, on average, only 10 years before it is discarded. Business owners can help both their pocketbook and the environment by purchasing extremely sturdy green office furniture, ready to be recycled after use.
Green office furniture can also be furniture that ensures an indoor office’s air quality remains clean and stable. Furniture that is not constructed with volatile organic compound (VOC) adhesives and coatings can help protect the integrity of the air quality. Furniture made with low VOC, such as urethane, is technically green. Choosing formaldehyde-free items that do not contain polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is also a step in the right direction for anyone who wants to have environmentally friendly office furniture.
When looking for lighting solutions, consumers may want to purchase devices that run on less energy than CFLs. Some lights can run on eight to nine watts of energy, which is nearly 50% less than what CFLs use. Furthermore, these types of green lighting solutions can provide lighting for many hours.
Consumers who buy eco-friendly office furniture may question manufacturers’ claims about respect for the earth. If that’s the case, they can look for certain certifications on the product. For example, a McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry Cradle to Cradle certification, GreenGuard or LEED certification can let consumers know that the products they are buying are sustainable and good for the environment.
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