Ethosource offers new, pre-owned, and refurbished product. If you prefer and can afford an entire office full of completely brand new office furniture, we can provide that for you. However, you may decide you want to cut back costs and attempt to be a bit more eco-friendly. This is where Ethosource’s ability to provide the perfect blend of new, pre-owned, and refurbished furniture is the best option.
Why choose Refurb? Refurbished office furniture is furniture that has been renovated to look and function like new furniture. It is an environmentally friendly option that provides the same aesthetic options as new but at a significantly reduced price.
Environmental Benefit: Every time 40 cubicles are refurbished, one less truckload goes to the landfill. Refurbishing also saves our raw materials and minimizes energy usage. For instance, every ton of recycled steel saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,000 pounds of coal, and 40 pounds of limestone. It also saves 4,300 kilowatt-hours of energy. Indoor air quality is another environmental benefit from refurbished office furniture because occupants have significantly less exposure to the volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) that result from the new manufacturing process.
Cost Benefit: When you don’t have to pay for the raw materials, labor, or energy that are needed to make new furniture, the savings are tremendous.
Aesthetic Benefit: Refurbishing uses the underlying structure of the furniture, yet allows for the visual elements of the cubicle to be designed to any specification. Customers choose colors, patterns or styles to fit their workspaces with an endless array of options.
Eco-friendly, aesthetically pleasing and economically advantageous – refurbishing makes for a win-win-win situation.
Quick Facts About the Ecology and Economy of Recycling Office Furniture:
- By remanufacturing office furniture rather than buying it new, U.S. businesses could avoid $93 milion in disposal costs.
- Purchasing a re-manufactured or refurbished product can cost consumers 30-70% less than a new product.
- According to the EPA, 3 million tons of office furniture and furnishings are discarded each year.
- The amount of labor and energy required to alter an existing product during re-manufacturing is 85 to 95% less than that required to manufacture a new product.
- Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter are all reduced by the recycling of office furniture, thereby reducing air pollution and global warming.
- The annual energy savings resulting from re-manufacturing activities worldwide is 120 trillion Btu’s. This equals the electricity generated by eight nuclear power plants, or 16 million barrels of crude oil (about 350 tankers).
- The annual material savings resulting from re-manufacturing activities worldwide is 14 million tons a year. This is the equivalent of a fully loaded railway train 1650 miles long.
Source: Rochester Institute of Technology and The Office Furniture Recyclers Forum