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Are you looking to spruce up your home office? Working in a space that you love decreases stress, improves productivity, and promotes an overall sense of well-being. But style should not come at the cost of the planet.
Did you know that according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2018 Americans tossed over 12 million tons of furniture and furnishings, 80 percent of which ended up in landfills? Plus, the manufacturing and transportation of furniture release massive carbon emissions.
While not the only indicators, it can be helpful while shopping for environmentally conscious furniture to look out for certifications like B-Corp, FSC, and Climate Neutral. Here, we have compiled a list of some great sustainable furniture for a healthy workspace and planet.
Humanscale offers everything from desk accessories to lighting. Humanscle uses ergonomics, or the study of how people work most efficiently in an office, to design chairs that optimize comfort and productivity.
Humanscale goes beyond climate neutral to make its products climate-positive, meaning they take more carbon out of the atmosphere than the products release. In 2023, 26 of their products achieved that goal. Their products are also made using upcycled plastics, designed to be long-lasting and their manufacturing facilities run on 100% rainwater.
With personal customizations made just for you, multiple different price points, and a commitment to environmentally friendly practices, you can not go wrong with Humanscale.
Well known for its furniture, Herman Miller has committed itself to cutting down waste, reducing its carbon footprint, and working towards sourcing more sustainable materials. Since 2010 the company has fueled 100 percent of its facilities with renewable energy. Additionally, Herman Miller uses FSC-certified wood and has a RePurpose program, which gives used products a new life and diverts waste from landfills.
Check out Herman Miller’s large variety of office furniture like the Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk. The desk is easily convertible between seated and standing positions and was designed by
Fully, a certified B-Corp. The bamboo used to make this desk released 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees, is renewable and is grown without fertilizers or pesticides.
Urban Natural is a small business that specially curates ethically sourced, sustainable, organic, handcrafted, and made-in-the-USA furniture. You can browse their sustainable page for desks and other office supplies like file cabinets.
One of our favorite products is the INVIGO SIT-STAND DESK by Copeland. Copeland manufactures its products in Bradford, Vermont, and each piece of wood is hand-selected by an employee. The lumber comes from within 500 miles of the manufacturing facility to cut down on emissions from transportation. The company has also been awarded the Sage Award for environmental excellence and the Silver Exemplary Membership Status by the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) for its environmentally friendly practices.
If you are looking for some fun and unique accents to brighten up your space, we recommend Minna. This queer-led B-corp partners with artisans in Central and South America to sustainably and ethically create small batches of their collections. Through co-creation with their craftsman partners, their products reflect the heritage and generational artistic technique of where they were made.
You can find their office products here.
Even with sustainably made companies, it takes a lot of resources and energy to build and transport their products. The best way to reduce your ecological footprint is to buy used. Tons of apps allow you to purchase office furniture, preventing unwanted furniture from rotting away in a landfill. Even better, furniture is often sold at a reduced price, so purchases are economically friendly as well as environmentally friendly.
Offerup is great if you want to buy and sell goods locally. It allows buyers and sellers easy pickups and dropoffs, and it offers buyer & seller protection that will enable you to shop worry-free.
If you are looking for more higher-end furniture, check out Chairish. With plenty of options from modern to antique, you are sure to find something that fits your office needs. Better, the company will coordinate shipping for you and you can even view furniture in your home with the “View In Your Space” feature.
Finally, we love to shop at Etsy. Esty is a global marketplace that is committed to the buying and selling of unique goods. While buyers can sell new products, the site is home to over 14 million vintage and other used items. Additionally, Etsy offsets 100% of the carbon emissions from shipping and packaging, strongly advocates for social justice and has pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2030.
You are probably spending a lot of time in your home office, so your space must be somewhere that makes you feel good without hurting our natural world. Climate change and its associated problems, such as biodiversity loss, are going to be the most challenging problems of this century. But, by shopping sustainably when you can, you are helping shift our culture to one that rejects fossil fuel dependency and is considerate of humanity’s environmental impacts.
If you would like to learn more about sustainability or how your company can reduce its carbon emissions, check out our website.