The American economic climate has come to a critical point where businesses are looking for new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in order to become more sustainable and less harmful to the environment. Everyone wants to erase their carbon footprints, and many organizations are amerced in current trends of the social responsibility and ethical investment in environmental causes to help do so. Not every business can afford to adopt corporate sustainability programs as quickly as others, but there are many ways to improve sustainability without breaking another bank. Investing in recycled office furniture is a wonderful way to help the environment by conserving natural resources, energy usage, and reducing solid waste stream and pollution.

When you invest in recycled office furniture, fewer raw materials are being used. Remanufacturing conserves energy and overall natural resources. Office furniture recycling extends the life cycle of resources already in circulation, such as aluminum, steel, plastics, fiber and wood. Recycling uses these resources over and over again to the fullest extent possible. Experts in the industry estimate that for each pound of natural resources used through remanufacturing, five to nine pounds of original raw materials are completely conserved.

When recycled, the products used in office furniture, as well as the natural resources, are diverted from the solid waste stream. It is estimated that 3 million tons of office furniture are discarded each year. Fabrics in panel systems tend to wear out or the colors become outdated. By remanufacturing the furniture, the fabrics can be replaced and updated. The office furniture will be returned to market for a second life cycle. This results in fewer products filling up landfill space and ruining the environment.

Recycling office furniture conserves energy used for labor and manufacturing. The amount of labor and energy required to remanufacture furniture is 85 to 95 percent less than what is required to produce a new product. Since the recycled furniture has already been manufactured, remanufacturing saves an enormous amount of energy required for production. Especially when metals are involved and are kept out of the re-smelting process.

Recycling reduces pollution caused by manufacturing furniture, which initially adds dangerous amounts of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter into the environment. By reducing the amounts of these contaminants, global warming, acid rain, smog and other forms of air pollution will be reduced.

Businesses are always searching for new ways to become more sustainable and less harmful to the environment. However, they don't always have the budget for corporate-wide green initiatives. There are ways to reduce company's carbon footprint, without ripping up the budget. Investing in recycling office furniture helps the environment by conserving natural resources, energy usage, and reducing solid waste stream and pollution. For recycled office furniture of high quality and value, visit www.officefurniturenow.com. Austin's Office Furniture NOW! has developed a very unique approach to the office furniture market, by maintaining the largest on-hand inventory of new and used office furniture in central Texas