Mercedes Benz – Office Furniture?

No we are not saying that car manufacturing giant Mercedes Benz have turned their hand to office furniture, but that a South African has taken parts from a Mercedes and recycled them to create pieces of office furniture that are, even if you're not a fan of Mercedes, aesthetically pleasing.

Katie Thompson created her office furniture by taking parts from a used Mercedes-Benz SL R230 and turned them into recycled furniture. Firstly, and probably most obvious, she took the car seat and turned it into an office chair. She then used the dashboard as a desk and included a three time-zone clock with the speedometer now being used as a magnetised pad. It does not stop there as she used the air vents from the car as handy business card holders and the once ignition lock for the car has been turned into a holder for a USB hub.

She has even found a use for the rear view mirror, by turning it into a desk lamp. This is not the only piece of furniture that aids Thompson's concept of sustainable furniture. Just a few months ago, office furniture manufacturer AIS, based in Hudson, announced that they will be partnering with the non-profit organisation A NEW, to try and provide a service whereby AIS customers can donate their old office furniture and materials instead of throwing it away.

The concept is that these pieces of office furniture, whether it be office desks, office chairs or any other piece of office furniture, will be donated to public agencies and charities within a 50 mile radius of where the furniture has been donated from, thus helping all local communities, charities and saves cost on putting the furniture into landfill. AIS are quoted in saying: "This partnership is a great fit for AIS. As a lean manufacturer, we are very environmentally aware of not just what we produce, but what we dispose of. By aligning with A NEW, we can ensure that abandoned furniture becomes recycled and used to benefit our communities as opposed to filling up our landfills,"