Idle Asset Furniture Service
Nov. 27, 2009 — We haven't really liked green furniture since the 1960s or ' 70s. Nor, for that matter, those old avocado-green appliances or lime-green shag carpets. (We were thinking of a different word than "lime.")
But here's a kind of green furniture any LEED-loving board can appreciate. We're talking lobby furniture, office furniture and any other common-area item from couch to coffee table that now won't wind up in landfills after you're through with them. Just as important, here's a way cash-strapped co-ops and condos can now actually make money on their gently used furnishings rather than paying for cartage and disposal.
Idle Asset, a web-based service of the Missouri company Facility Warehouse, LLC and the design and marketing group Snap Creative, lets you put the likes of your lobby loveseats and office ottomans into an online database through which prospective buyers can browse. And you can, too, when you're looking to replace, say, your resident manager's desk or your concierge's chair. Aside from the economic incentive, consider: Chemicals used in the manufacture of many office products are often volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as waterproofing chemicals, flame-retardants and other pollutants that eventually leak out in landfills and seep into our groundwater. Just sayin'.
Here's how it works: You register at the Idle Asset site, which serves as your proxy for all the logistics. You get your your own online gallery to which you can link from your co-op or condo's webpage. If you don't have a web page, Snap will set one up for your furniture sale. (Don't be put off by Snap's e-mail address ; "shill" stands for company president Shirley Hill and is no reflection, we're sure, on this fine firm's reputation....)
If you're less concerned about selling your furniture than just ensuring it doesn't wind up decomposing ten feet underground somewhere waiting for future archeologists to dig up, then Idle Asset rather generously arranges for certain items to be given away free to teachers and school administrators. And the company is also set up to allocate part of your proceeds for donation to non-profit organizations. So that you know, get up off your chair — and sell it!
Idle Asset • 215 North Main Street, St. Charles, Mo. 63301 • (636) 949-8686 x232 • shill@idleasset.net (The Snap Group / Snap Creative : same address and phone, shill@thesnapgroup.com )