We are now a certified B Corporation!
BBBIG NEWS! Doorman is now a certified B Corporation American made furniture company!! B Corp evaluates businesses on environmental, social, and governance standards and after a lengthy process Doorman has officially joined the ranks of incredible ethically minded companies all around the world–Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Allbirds, and Tom’s of Maine.
Over the last year and a half, we've worked on this process by making environmentally conscious changes to our day to day operations, shifting internal structures, and making sure we live up to our goals of being a good company. B Corp has given us a framework for what we've long believed- that businesses can be a force of good and a force of change.
In the ever changing climate in this country, we want it to be clear that we prioritize people and the planet. As the world changes, we vow to change with it, to be on the quest to continually better ourselves in efforts to better the world.
The Nitty Gritty
B Corp accesses each company in 5 categories- environment, workers, governance, customers and community. In each of these categories there are a variety of questions used to determine everything from healthcare benefits to pay to water usage. The test is long, detailed, and honestly hard! It challenged us to look under the hood and gave us a framework for improvements.
Over the last couple years we’ve rethought our waste and have reduced our landfill contributions by 66%. We’ve done this by designing with our waste to create sustainably made furniture. Our newest collection makes use of offcuts in new pieces- the Basin Barstool and Marengo bed are made entirely from table cut offs. Additionally, we’ve partnered with Realcycle to recycle sawdust, cardboard, plastic, aluminum and glass. Our dumpster and our consciouses are a lot more clear!
We’ve also installed solar panels that offset about 35% of our energy use each month. Alex also spent last summer rewilding the lawn around Doorman. This has not only helped with flood mitigation by giving all of the summer rain a place to go, but also has brought new neighbors onto our lawn like butterflies and woodpeckers.
Zinnias and cosmos cover our lawn in the spring and summer months.
On the admin side of things, we created new policies and made existing ones more formal. We revamped our employee handbook, making feedback mechanisms abundantly clear. We’ve introduced employee 401K matching and continue to offer all employees health, dental, and vision benefits. Ensuring a sustainable workplace is important to Doorman and to B Corp.
While this maybe isn’t the sexiest of the changes we’ve made, small admin changes like this make a big difference in the day to day and help our work culture which is crucial to the longevity of Doorman.
Moving Forward
We are proud to finally be a certified B Corporation furniture company! While this is an accomplishment, we realize that it is also just a new beginning. We still have many internal and sustainability goals that we will keep chipping away at and will share along the way. However it is a beginning of being held accountable to our goals as ethical business and a commitment to keep striving to do better!