We’ve all heard it before… “reduce, reuse, recycle,” but how exactly does that translate to your office space planning? Well, the biggest component of space planning is knowing what exactly you’re going to fill the space with furniture. 

Before working on new interior design plans, consider which pieces of furniture you can reuse that you already have in your possession. To put it into perspective, the EPA estimates that 9 million tons of furniture are tossed each year. That’s roughly 5% of everything brought to landfills—which is pretty significant given all of the food waste and packaging that gets tossed too. 

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It All Starts with a Good I.D.E.A.®

At Relocation Strategies, we put intention behind every decision we make for our clients in an effort to cut down costs and waste. In particular, we regularly help companies grade furniture with our proprietary I.D.E.A.® software so we can identify what our clients want to get rid of and keep. We specifically built I.D.E.A.®, for the purpose of Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FFE) inventory management. From desks, chairs and cubicles to markerboards, artwork, A/V and other miscellaneous items, we’ve inventoried thousands of square feet for our clients. 

I.D.E.A.® is designed to satisfy any project requirement through capturing photos, quantities, sizes, manufacturer and assigns a grade for the condition if suggested to reuse or not. Multiple inventories can be recorded simultaneously and combined into one database for sorting purposes for disposition, barcoding and creating budgets for new furniture needed. Additionally, we apply our credentialed expertise to design a formulaic furniture mix that optimizes our clients’ employee base to increase productivity, help retain top talent and create real savings (financially for the client and environmentally for our world). 

Relo prioritizes sustainability, which is why we donate a majority of our furniture to other organizations that may need it, preventing it from sitting stagnant at the landfill. More so, diverting reusable office furniture from landfills helps protect the environment by minimizing the demand for timber, metals, plastics and fabrics, reducing carbon emissions produced during the manufacturing process and disposal. 

Instead of having to purchase all new furniture and dispose of past furniture in a non-environmentally-friendly way, I.D.E.A.Ⓡ is an opportunity for companies to help each other. It’s a win-win!

Sustainability Will Save You Money, Time and Resources

Relo works with a variety of clients to suit their needs.  We are currently inventorying a total of 69 schools for a large school system which is over 800,000 sq ft to assist with recommendations for new furniture needed. Recently, Relo inventoried 200,000 sq ft for a large local hospital systems’ mother and infant building. Our team noted what furniture items could be reused through extensive analysis. This was a great success since reusing helped reduce their client’s carbon footprint, decrease the cost of new furniture and prevent items from going to landfills. 

Renovate, Relocate, Reconfigure and Reimagine with Relocation Strategies

At the end of the day, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Relocation Strategies doesn’t sell furniture because it conflicts with our mission to be an advocate for the client and help them find the best solutions. We reimagine spaces—integrating your current furniture into new interior design—so workplaces can be productive, effective and engaging. The future of the workspace is changing and will need to be reimagined. We’re here to help you find the best workplace solutions for your business.