Hey there fellow furniture nerds and eco-warriors! Ever think about the environmental impact of commercial furniture? As a mom and business owner, I’ve often found myself pondering the legacy we’ll leave behind for our children and the future of our precious planet. I'm not alone. The kimiko designs team has been shaking up the commercial furniture industry for the past two decades, becoming the go-to experts for infusing our passion (bordering on obsession) for furniture with a dash of humor and sass. After all, “we love furniture so you don’t have to”.
Over the last few years, we’ve been hearing the same question over and over from clients: “What do we do with all this surplus furniture?” According to the EPA, a mind-blowing 17 billion pounds of office assets end up in US landfills each year. As leaders in the furniture industry, we can't just sit back and ignore our participation in this environmental crisis —we need to take action. And that’s why kimiko green was born.
Kimiko green is a community of trailblazing corporate facilities and real estate leaders on a mission to solve this waste problem. We are all about sharing resources, discussing best practices, and providing expert support to help organizations make responsible and sustainable commercial furniture choices. After months of brainstorming, intense research and collaboration (and considerable caffeine intake), our team is thrilled to announce the release of our first-ever sustainability resource: The kimiko green Playbook: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Furniture Decommissioning.
To make this playbook as comprehensive and impactful as possible, we’ve joined forces with some of the brightest minds in the industry. Our monthly kimiko green roundtable discussions bring together representatives from over 40 major companies and institutions, including powerhouses like Toyota, Indeed, and Sony Pictures. As one of our esteemed collaborators, Joanna Toler, VP, Construction & Design Manager, Amegy Bank, commented, “Sometimes, you just have to be the one to ask hard questions, own the issue and take steps forward to drive real change.”
Together, we’ve packed the free playbook with roadmaps, practical tools, resources, and tips that will turn your organization into a waste-diverting superhero! Through five sustainable decommissioning strategies (reuse, reconfiguration, resell, donation, recycling), businesses of all shapes and sizes will become empowered to bid farewell to their office furniture in the most responsible and sustainable way possible.
Don’t take our word for it, though. "These practices have really helped us save time and budget,” said Jenny McMath, furniture lead at Los Alamos National Laboratory. “It also helps us allocate our resources where they're needed most, as many departments have different budgets and needs."
And we are just getting started! We’ve embarked on a mission to transform the way we plan and support the future of our planet and we want YOU to join us on this journey. The kimiko designs team was at NeoCon and created a virtual CEU session led by myself (Dianne Murata) and VP of Construction and Design at Amegy Bank, Joanna Toler titled, “It's Not Easy Being Green (But Let's Do It Anyway); Building a Roadmap to Sustainable Furniture and Facility Practices.” You can view it in the NeoCon Programming Hub under the Virtual CEUs section through August 15, 2023.
Together, we can make a real difference and create a sustainable future for generations to come.
