When it comes to office furniture, the buying patterns of consumers’ have considerably changed in recent years to reflect our environmental concerns. Gary Carr, Marketing Manager at a large furniture manufacturer said that customers were starting to say, “Don’t just give us a cabinet, and give us corporate responsibility.”

After a recent survey by a large office furniture manufacturer it was found that businesses were asking for evidence that their office furniture items are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The same office furniture manufacturer together with the Office Furniture and Filing Manufacturers Association (Offma) began to calculate their CO2 emissions per product using emission standards and data provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) along with World Business Council on Sustainable Development.

After the exercise it became possible to advertise the results of each emission generated through the manufacturing and shipping process on each individual office furniture item.  This has meant buyers were able to compare environmental effects of UK produced office furniture and those shipped from aboard. 

Since the survey was conducted and office furniture buyers were able to see emissions produced for each item it has enabled them to make more informed choices and become more aware of the lower emissions produced from purchasing office furniture in the UK rather than a foreign country.