It’s been over a year now since RethinkWaste moved into our new administrative offices on lovely San Carlos Avenue. Before we even made our space into what it is today (it was a concrete shell when our agency purchased the space back in November 2023), staff and its architects made the bold decision to repurpose much of our existing furniture. This choice, driven by a deep commitment to sustainability, not only saved costs but also kept beautifully crafted items out of the landfill.
Our new office now boasts an eclectic mix of furniture, including desk chairs, cabinets, and uniquely designed desks made from corrugated metal and reclaimed wood. Facing north towards the Transit District building, the tall glass windows flood the space with natural morning light. High ceilings and pristine new walls are now adorned with a living moss wall and art centered on sustainability. After nine months of design and building, staff moved into this inspiring new space last October, moving from our previous office above the San Carlos Library (for which we were in for 20 years!) and bringing with us many of our belongings.
RethinkWaste’s 4 Rs—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot (compost)—are the cornerstone of our educational outreach to schools and the community. The first R, Reduce, is paramount; by curbing initial consumption and the creation of goods, we significantly lessen the burden of disposal. Reusing and repurposing items not only supports small repair businesses but may also spark creativity. Recycling furniture; however, remains an immense challenge and continues to be a growing waste stream.
While interior design and office planning typically do not prioritize sustainability, Executive Director Joe La Mariana championed a transformative shift away from the throw-away culture perpetuated by fast furniture to reuse as much as we could from our previous office and directed the architect team to make it happen. Some of the furniture we weren’t able to find a home for in our new space was taken home by staff or others.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans discarded over 12 million tons of furniture in 2018, a figure that surged during the pandemic, and continues to be high with the ease of online ordering furniture. All over the country, people began experiencing the convenience of buying beds and desks online for the first time, often facing limited return policies and unrealistic product visions. The ease of online purchasing prompts companies to keep prices as low as possible to attract buyers. This drastic price slashing has severely compromised the quality of materials used. Items like desks, beds, and chairs may seem appealing online but often disappoint in person and rarely last beyond five years, leading to an influx of discarded furniture.
Above is a graph from the U.S. EPA indicating the sudden increase in furniture and furnishings in American waste up to 2018. Data since the pandemic is not yet available, but we do know increase in furniture purchasing would indicate an increase in waste generated.
Above is the floor plan of RethinkWaste’s new office, with some of the furniture and items taken over from their previous residence. Some notable items we were able to reuse that aren’t reflected in this document include the following:
- The 4 Rs signs made of recycled magazine are showcased on our wall in the previous office and now are in the hallway in the first floor (see above image).
- A “barn door” that was once the door holding our server to now cover two openings for storage space on the second floor.
- One set of 3-stream system bins we reused from the City of Foster City, who were getting rid of them during a remodel. The set now sits in our new large conference room.
- A long wooden table once in our Executive Director’s office is being reused as our kitchenette table.
- A wooden table with a glass top that was once also in our Executive Director’s office is being reused as a table in our “Collaboration” Space room on the second floor.
RethinkWaste makes smaller sustainable choices all the time: our internal purchasing policy includes buying only recycled content paper and paper supplies, we use washable glasses for water at board meetings. When it comes to purchasing, we prioritize buying secondhand when possible and renting supplies for events. When holding raffle prizes, we always aim to give away experiences rather than items. Even during our move, we rented moving boxes instead of buying them, to lessen waste since the boxes would only be used for a short amount of time.
These are just a few strides that RethinkWaste takes to uphold our commitment to sustainability. It’s a part of our mission, vision, and guiding principles to reduce waste in the environment, and the thoughtfulness that our staff put into moving to a new office proves we don’t just talk the talk, we walk it.
