Furniture is big business. And as a leading furniture distributor, Saraval Industries pays attention to the bigger issues that affect our business, and offices around the world.
The world is going green at a rapid pace, and furniture is no exception. With the myriad components of furniture there’s a whole industry asking itself, “How do we go green?”
Customers are also looking for eco-friendly solutions to furnishing their offices. So, we’ll explore exactly what “green furniture” is, and how you can outfit your office with green furniture.
How Is Furniture “Green”?
Gone are the days where the cheapest materials mean the best materials.
When it comes to green furniture, there are two ways to go. The best way is purchasing pre-owned furniture.
Pre-owned furniture is green furniture because it recycles the pieces that are already produced. Giving used furniture new life is one of the most effective ways to start using eco-friendly furniture.
When you think about it, purchasing green furniture by buying used makes sense. For control rooms, trading floors, and other high-priority office environments, furniture is built to last for a very long time because the up-front investment is so high.
Re purposed, pre-owned furniture doesn’t end up in landfills. And, as high-use office furniture is often big and bulky—and eco-friendly materials are in most cases extremely expensive—finding the perfect balance of cost and environmental friendliness is a guessing game for many office managers.
Why Should I Buy Pre-Owned Office Furniture?
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency released a report showing almost 10 million tons of furniture end up in landfills each year. This figure has increased over the years with the introduction of cheap furniture whose useful life is much shorter than high-quality pieces.
And with that much waste going into landfills, the best way to curb that trend is by taking the best pieces and re-purposing them for decades of reusable life.
Simply put, pre-owned office furniture doesn’t need to be produced. The sheer amount of materials, components, and manufacturing machinery needed lead to high environmental costs. And, a large amount of office furniture is sent to landfills after its useful life, meaning those hard-built materials will most likely stay in the landfill for hundreds of years.
At Saraval Industries, we do things differently. We’ve found out how to source pre-owned office furniture sustainably with a deep network of vendors who sell us high-quality used office furniture that our clients will enjoy for years to come.
The second component of our “green furniture” model is refurbishment. Technicians that are the best in the field work for Saraval Industries to examine each incoming piece closely to identify every scratch, crack, and bad joint and we get to work repairing, refinishing, and testing each piece to ensure beyond a shadow of a doubt that it works just as good as a new piece.
The Impact Of Green Furniture And The “Circular Economy”
While it’s difficult to understand the total impact of sourcing pre-owned furniture, you can think about how long you’ll use your pre-owned desks, chairs, cabinets, and more. The furniture we source comes only from brands with a reputation for building long-lasting pieces. With our refurbishing work, these long-lasting pieces are restored to like-new condition, which effectively doubles their useful life.
Sourcing high-quality pre-owned furniture that may just have some cosmetic damage is how Saraval Industries participates in the “circular economy”. This means that ‘we’re changing the furniture industry from a linear-stream model to a circular stream model.
The Economic Case For Pre-Owned, “Green” Furniture
It’s all well and good to do right by the environment. But, what about the bottom line?
Pre-owned furniture is a cost-conscious office manager’s gold mine. Typically, Saraval Industry’s pieces are up to 80 percent less expensive than brand new models, and will last just as long, if not longer.
Especially for new offices, taking the cost-effective route in furnishing your space is also the eco-friendly route. With savings like what we typically see above, purchasing green furniture is in many ways the most sensible decision for your business, and your bottom line.
Right For The Environment, Right For You
Green furniture costs less, it’s great for the environment, and your organization can be on the right side of history as climate change becomes an increasingly important issue. And at the end of the day, there’s nothing like knowing that your business investment will last you for years to come.
With a commitment to responsibly sourcing high-quality pre-owned furniture, and refurbishing it to like-new condition, not buying furniture at such steeply-discounted prices as green furniture is a waste of money. Check out Saraval Industry’s wide selection of pre-owned office furniture to furnish your organization responsibly, both for the planet and your bottom line.