WorkSpaces' vendor factories in the USA must meet stringent regulations on air and water emissions. Not so with off-shore furniture factories. Several PBS and NY Times stories have illustrated how low tech, lower value added products are produced cheaper in Asia by dumping chemical waste into nearby streams and venting noxious gases into the air without filtering. To shock yourself, go to Google Images and type in "China pollution", the results are stunning. During the period from 1990 to 2010 many of the large residential furniture factories in the USA were closed and moved off shore to Asia to lower their production costs since environmental costs were non-existent there. However, this "cost savings" was merely hidden in the environmental pollution costs of the new producer country. WorkSpaces believes that ultimately environmental degradation is a cost that comes back to haunt us since we are all inhabitants of the same planet.

Here are some facts about our vendor factories that illustrate our commitment to a sustainable Earth.

Our work surface laminate factory, Omnova Solutions, has had an aggressive sustain ability program since 2008.

Our MDF wood core is a "green no added formaldehyde" material from Sierra Pine.

We use powder coated metal components which reduces VOC gases (versus enamel, chrome, and paint which release more VOC's). Read about the benefits of powder coated finishes.

As much as possible we reuse packaging materials. On the other hand we try to package securely so your shipment will arrive undamaged. We do not use Styrofoam peanuts or other noxious packing materials. Most of our materials are made from wood fibre products.

When shopping online from mega reseller sites, remember that their environmental policy statement may apply only to their US sales operation, not to the content of the products they resell or import from off-shore factories.