Sustainability

Sustainability

The meaning and applicability of the term “sustainability” have become fragmented across numerous schools of thought. Too often driven by financial interests, many certification programs have risen and fallen as their relevance was eclipsed by the high cost of participation, overly complex requirements, and a lack of transparency. Much of today’s environmental rhetoric is filled with misleading jargon—designed less to foster accountability for climate change than to obscure responsibility altogether.

Steelcase, a leading office furniture manufacturer, has a strong commitment to sustainability, and many of its products are certified by a leading third-party standard

Leading certifications that reflect a commitment to sustainable furniture manufacturing include FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council), GREENGUARD®, BIFMA LEVEL®, and Cradle to Cradle®. These standards demonstrate responsible material sourcing, low chemical emissions, and environmentally conscious manufacturing practices.

Here’s a breakdown of some key certifications:

• CarbonNeutral® product certification.  The cradle-to-grave product carbon neutrality designation for businesses, products and events that have achieved carbon neutrality in line with Th Carbon Neutral Protocol. Link
• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): This certification ensures that wood products come from responsibly managed forests, promoting sustainable forestry practices. 
• Greenguard: Greenguard certification focuses on low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals, improving indoor air quality. 
• BIFMA LEVEL: This certification, based on the BIFMA e3-Furniture Sustainability Standard, evaluates the environmental, human, and social impacts of furniture products. The program offers three performance tiers: LEVEL 1, 2, and 3, with LEVEL 3 being the highest level of sustainability performance.  
• BIFMA  LEVEL 3 Certified: Gesture; Cobi
• BIFMA Level 2 Certified: Amia
• Cradle to Cradle: This certification assesses products based on material health, material reuse, renewable energy, water stewardship, and social fairness. 

Many Steelcase products have Cradle to Cradle certification, including:

• Steelcase Series 1 & Series 2 Chairs
• Think Chair – https://officeplanners.com/seating/task-and-work-seating/steelcase-think-2/
• Leap Chair – https://officeplanners.com/seating/task-and-work-seating/leap-chair/
• Amia Chair – https://officeplanners.com/seating/task-and-work-seating/amia-chair/
• Ology Height-Adjustable Desks – https://officeplanners.com/desks/height-adjustable-workspace/ology/

• SCS: SCS Global Services provides third-party verification and certification for a wide range of environmental and social standards, including those related to furniture. 
• SCS Advantage Gold: Gesture; Cobi
• https://officeplanners.com/seating/task-and-work-seating/gesture-chair/
• https://officeplanners.com/seating/conferencetraining-seating/cobi/

Certified Carbon Neutral Products – https://www.carbonneutral.com/

• Gesture 
• Leap
• Karman 
• Think
• Amia
• Steelcase Series 1 and Series 2
• Ology
• Migration SE

Circular Economy – The Future Is a Circle

Simply put, the circular economy concept promotes the notion of using resources for as long as possible and once they are worn out, recovering and/or regenerating the materials into something new. Avoid waste — reuse, remanufacture and redesign instead — and keep this mindset throughout the entire design process, not just at the end. The related concept of “cradle-to-cradle” design, made famous by the seminal “Cradle-to-Cradle: Remaking How We Make Things” by Michael Braungart and William McDonough has been foundational in Steelcase product development practices.

Office Outfitters

We practice what we preach and are committed to working with vendors that are consciously conscientiously work toward making the environment better and reducing their emissions and reducing packaging waste.

• Office Kitchen Recycling – Cardboard, plastic, batteries
• Metal Recycling – Frames,
• Office Paper Recycling
• Cardboard Packaging
  • Separate waste into trash and recycle streams

We estimate that we are currently recycling 100% of our  packaging cardboard which is a truck load of carboard every week – 13 tons of cardboard annually