Can Your Office Move Be Good for the Environment and for the Pocketbook?

When considering office space for rent and planning your office move, some commonly known steps are great for …When considering office space for rent and planning your office move, some commonly known steps are great for the environment: smart building systems conserve energy, innovative construction materials are great for the earth and attractive lease rates reduce rent.

However, many other simple and smart actions during office move planning positively impact the environment and your finances.

For most moving companies, sustainability is not a big priority and very few focus on helping you to be sustainable during an office move. Office movers have been talking about using recyclable moving boxes and bio-diesel fuel since green became the new black. In reality, their practices actually do very little to move the needle toward green and in most cases, it is just marketing fluff. More than 95% of the trucks on the road are not running on biodiesel and while using recyclable boxes is a good step, it is the bare minimum of potential sustainability practices. The decisions made during move planning will determine the environmental impact. Let’s walk through a couple of areas to consider.

Surplus Technology Equipment

Computers and business machines contain toxic levels of mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and beryllium, which are very unfriendly to the environment. Even with the best intentions, your old technology equipment—computers, servers, phones and business machines—will most likely end up in landfills or get shipped to developing countries with very little environmental standards where they are separated, burned and left to pollute the earth.

When managing surplus IT assets, work with a moving company that provides an e-Stewards certified solution. Only e-Stewards certification is endorsed by major environmental groups, including Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the Natural Resource Defense Council. To ensure your equipment is cleared of data, work with a moving company that offers a NAID AAA Certified solution to ensure compliance with important regulatory requirements.

Surplus Office Furniture

According to the EPA, nearly nine million tons of usable office furniture and equipment ends up in landfills every year. Office moves create excess office furniture because many times, companies purchase new furniture for their new space. In many cases, companies do not proactively plan how to deal with surplus furniture. Lack of planning can be expensive and most times the furniture ends up in a landfill.

Make sure to work with a moving company that has proactive, upfront surplus furniture planning solutions—and actions that protect the environment and reduce costs.

In efforts to go green, there is a big market for used office furniture. Office furniture remanufacturers re-fabric and re-paint office furniture.

Nothing is more sustainable than giving something new life and a great moving company can help. If your furniture is not able to be resold, a moving company that is active in the community can help find charitable organizations who gladly accept donated office furniture and supplies. It’s great for the environment and helps others.

Another and lesser-known option is to recycle old furniture versus having it hauled to the landfill. Many of the materials in office furniture are 100% recyclable and should never go into dumpsters and landfills. In fact, you can generate significant rebates on recycling proceeds to offset some or all the cost of removal. For example, just 200 cubicles can produce as much as $15,000 in metal recycle rebates. Not only is recycling the right thing to do for the environment, but you can also save a lot of money.

Whether it’s surplus IT equipment or old office furniture, working with the right moving company can help you create a sustainable plan for your office move that also helps your bottom line. There is nothing better than a win for your bottom line and the environment.

Work with a provider who understands that there are more sustainable solutions than donating cardboard boxes. Contact us today to talk about how to best plan a more environmentally friendly business move.