Extend your Furniture’s Life

The Spec Environmental Story

At Spec™, we focus on making furniture that will last. This focus on sustainability not only benefits our customers by providing them with quality products, but it also benefits the environment by extending the life of our furniture, reducing the amount of furniture waste that goes to landfills. To ensure our products have an extended life, we have implemented a Design for the Environment (DfE) program that utilizes the latest sustainability guidelines. It is implemented at the Project Initiation stage of new product development and addresses the following key areas:

  • Materials
  • End of life management
  • Energy and water management
  • Air quality
  • Life-cycle assessment
  • Long useful life, ability to withstand repeated service, repair, maintenance, and re-assembly
  • Easy refurbishing, replacement and reuse of components

Though Spec’s furniture is designed and built to last, we know that all good things must come to an end. As styles change and daily wear & tear begins to show, you may be looking to replace your current products with upgraded styles or fabrics. To reduce your environmental impact, try extending the life of your Spec furniture using one of the options below to keep your products away from landfills!
 

Option 1: Refurbish

If your furniture is in need of an upgrade, try refurbishing what you already have!  Spec designs its furniture to allow you to rework your existing products, reducing the amount of waste that goes into the landfill and lowering the cost of your upgrade. For example, you can remove chair seats & backs to upgrade the fabric, or repaint scratched table bases. Simply refer to the disassembly instructions below for a step by step guide on taking your furniture apart.

 

Option 2: Donate

If your furniture is still in good condition, you can benefit your community by donating the items to local charities in organizations where they will put your products to good use. Not only will you avoid the cost of sending products to the landfill, but most organizations will give you a charitable tax receipt! Below are some suggestions for donating your old furniture:  

 

Option 3: Recycle

Furniture that cannot be re-purposed or redistributed can be recycled as the material it is composed of still has value. For example, common materials such as steel and aluminum can be easily sent to scrap metal sites and often provide monetary return. Recycling ensures that additional materials do not enter the landfill.

Here are some useful sites for recycling your products:

Refer to the disassembly instructions above to see which components of your furniture are recyclable and how much they weigh.