Sustainable Design Policy

Whilst Orangebox continually strives to improve work-life through great design, we also recognise that as a producer of products that utilise materials and energy in their manufacturing, almost everything we do currently has a negative impact on the planet.

Our aim is to systematically reduce these impacts over time by applying a number of related policies that directly influence the way in which we design, manufacturer and distribute our products.

The adoption of this Sustainable Design Policy recognises that the human health and environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle are almost completely determined during the design phase.

• We formally integrate sustainability into our New Product Development (NPD) process through the consideration & review of environmental performance at key control points during the process. This includes a sustainability review at the outset of every new development to establish the environmental compliance & sustainability objectives for the project
• We promote life cycle thinking as our primary design philosophy and use the following key themes to guide our decision making:
  • Aiming for long-term product performance
  • Responsible material health & sourcing
  • Striving to minimise global warming and other life cycle-impacts
  • Design with life cycle extension, second life & end-of use outcomes in mind from the outset
• We design with disassembly in mind to enable & promote reuse, re-manufacture and recycling
• We prioritise the use of recycled materials (over virgin) where possible to do so
• We prioritise the use of renewable materials (over abiotic) where possible to do so
• We design to maximise the recyclable content of our products and their packaging
• We ensure the use of responsibly sourced materials at all times by proactive engagement with our supply chain and by the use of recognised accreditation schemes where appropriate (e.g. FSC, PEFC)
• We actively work to reduce ‘chemicals of concern’ and VOC content in our materials by on-going engagement with our supply chain. We validate this effort via formal third-party analysis & review
• We require all VOC emitting products to be tested and third-party certified in accordance with best-in-class indoor air quality standards
• We use in-house carbon foot-printing tools to help identify and prioritise low-impact design solutions
• We publish environmental performance information for all our products with the aim of allowing our customers to make well informed choices