Published by Green by Design under Uncategorized

Leading Office Furniture Manufacturer Has Long History of Environmental Responsibility

MUSCATINE, Iowa — Sustainability and environmental responsibility are increasingly important issues in today’s society. At The HON Company, the second-largest office furniture manufacturer in North America, conserving raw materials is not a new concept. In fact, it’s something the company has been doing since its inception.

“More than fifty years ago, HON made recipe card boxes from pieces of scrap metal generated from our contract business,” says Mindy Billingsley, environmental marketing manager. “Today, we practice one of the industry’s strongest and most comprehensive programs to conserve raw materials and reduce waste.”

Programs and Processes

Beyond HON’s dedication to sustainability in product design, the company also has a number of programs in place to save the Earth’s resources. Having adopted the old adage “waste not, want not” back in 1947, it remains part of HON’s DNA and has shaped the company’s ongoing pursuit of environmental stewardship.

To read the rest of this article and view our video and image library with print quality downloads, click here:
http://mnr.onthescene.com/HON/NatureCore.html

Products

The HON Company constantly seeks ways to build sustainability in its many product lines, as well.

In June of 2007, The HON Company revolutionized the office furniture industry by introducing Nature Core an alternative to the traditional ‘filler’ used inside cubicle walls. Nature Core is the first of its kind for the office furniture industry, and is made primarily from kenaf, a natural, sustainable crop that grows very quickly and replenishes itself every four to six months.

HON’s commitment to sustainable products also benefits the quality of the air we breathe. In 2006, The HON Company became the first office furniture manufacturer to have products certified by the Indoor Advantage program developed by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), a third-party auditor and certifier of environmental and sustainability claims which subjects products to the most rigorous indoor air quality standards in the United States. To date, more than 70 HON product lines have been certified by SCS.

For more information about The HON Company’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.HONthinksgreen.com