As designers, we try so hard to get every detail executed perfectly.
I have this fabulous repeat commercial client who has grown their staffing to the point where they needed a new office space. It has been a joy to help them, however, this client is also a non-profit client, and the budget for design services needed to be cut so we could best serve their needs.
What this meant for my firm is that we provided the design, and assisted with finish selections, but left the implementation up to the contractor that the building manager hired. Since we were not giving them full service, our commercial furniture installer was also decided by the vendor.
Everything was going great, we have GreenGuard-certified flooring and carpet tiles made with recycled content, and even our commercial furniture has a GreenGuard Certification! I am feeling like a million bucks knowing our clients are in a safe new office.
Now it’s time to check up on the planet, so I start chatting with the new installer. This was not an installer I had worked with before, and I did not get to decide on hiring him.
“Your team is doing great,” I say, “It is coming together so well. I want to ask you what your company does with all this cardboard, are you ensuring it gets recycled?”
“Well, we can’t control it THAT much, we just take it to the dump with everything else. Maybe they recycle it, but I am not sure,” replies the installer.
***insert my little green heart, breaking here***
By this point, it is too late to affect any change, but I learned a valuable lesson here, that I want to share with you.
We can not always control every aspect of our jobs. But what we CAN do, is pose these questions at the beginning of a project or when getting labor quotes for our clients. This was a new installer for my vendor as well, so here is where I will pivot next time:
If there has been a change to an installer, or service provider, I need to speak up and ask, “What would it cost for us to have 2 dumpsters so that we can recycle all the cardboard?” Or, “Can you please provide me with a separate line item on the estimate for box recycling?”
That simple.
If they are unwilling to do this, then I can let my client know that we would like to recycle as much cardboard as possible and provide them with an estimate for a recycling service to provide us with a dumpster. From there, we can provide this as our service, with a margin in there for our time as well.
At the end of the day, we can’t be perfect, and that is okay. I want to inspire you to start thinking about the very small changes you can make, first. We don’t need designers who are each doing 1,000 things all the time, we need thousands of designers each doing a few things.
A rising tide will lift all boats.
–Megan
