7 Eco-Friendly Desks For A Healthier And More Sustainable 9-5
In a typical work week, people spend an average of 5 hours and 41 minutes per day at their desks.
Sitting at an eco-friendly desk might not make those long hours staring at the computer any less draining, but it will ensure your workday isn’t draining on your conscience and the environment, too.
Besides, even if we aren’t feeling the effects at the moment, sustainable computer desks keep us safer with non off-gassing finishes and glues—especially on those days when we ourselves feel glued to our desks.
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The Top Ethical Desks For Balancing Work & Sustainability
Urban Wood Goods’ collection of artisanal recycled wood desks will positively impact your productivity and the environment by repurposing literal tons of lumber waste.
We’re giving a standing ovation to Canadian Certified B Corp ergonofis’ non-toxic standing desk design built from responsibly sourced tumber.
Pull up a chair as we talk FSC-certified wood, functional design, and more.
Or if you’re on a short work break, jump to the bottom of the page for the meeting brief of the materials and practices that make for a more sustainable desk.
The Full List Of Non-Toxic & Sustainable Desks
- Urban Wood Goods | Visit Store
- ergonofis | Visit Store
- Branch Furniture | Visit Store
- Hoek Home | Visit Store
- MasayaCo | Visit Store
- Work From Home Desks | Visit Store
- What WE Make | Visit Store
1. Urban Wood Goods
About Urban Wood Goods
Price Range: $845–$3,245
It’s hard to go wrong with Urban Wood Goods’ collection of eco-friendly desks, coffee tables, and other American-made furniture.
Like everything they offer, their sustainable office furniture is made entirely from recycled materials, like lumber from demolished and deconstructed urban buildings and recycled steel.
They come in all shapes and sizes, including standing desks, minimalist desks, L-shaped non-toxic corner desks, farmhouse desks, and more.
All are handmade, but for something that really brings out the natural beauty of the wood grain, the Rustic Desk is a versatile favorite that fits even in small spaces.
Urban Wood Goods’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Each recycled desk is made of reclaimed wood from urban structures, originally harvested in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
It’s combined with recycled, industrial steel bases and legs.
The furniture comes in various finishes made from eco-friendly, water-based stains with low VOC (volatile organic compounds).
The dual-care topcoat makes for a clear, commercial-grade UV, and formaldehyde-free desk finish.
Supply chain & labor practices:
For a green computer desk made in the USA, Urban Wood has the goods.
They source materials primarily from buildings being demolished or deconstructed for adaptive reuse in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Their USA assembly workshop provides fair wages and safe working conditions to its employees, ensuring a healthy work-life balance.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
UWG limits its pursuit of reclaimed wood to urban Midwest sites within 100 miles of its workshop to reduce the carbon footprint and eliminate contribution to deforestation and landfills.
They only ship in the US and Canada, avoiding high transportation emissions over sea.
2. ergonofis
About ergonofis
Price Range: $945–$2,395
As more and more individuals work from home, the standing desk concept is becoming an increasingly popular option—especially since long hours of sitting have been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other negative health effects.
That’s why Canadian brand ergonofis offers sustainable standing desks built from responsibly sourced wood.
The Sway Standing Desk is one of their most popular options. It combines the natural look of a wood top with modern technology, like easily adjustable heights so you can move from sitting to standing with ease.
ergonofis’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The desks are made from wood, like cherrywood and walnut, sourced from sustainably managed North American forests.
ergonofis only uses water-based non-toxic desk top finishes.
Supply chain & labor practices:
As a Certified B Corp, ergonofis is committed to providing fair wages and safe working conditions for its employees.
They design and build their products in the province of Quebec, Canada and source local materials whenever possible.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Partnered with Shopify Sustainability, ergonofis provides carbon-neutral shipping to help reduce its overall footprint.
The Almost Perfect catalog offers products containing slight defects at discounted rates to reduce production waste. The eco-friendly standing desks are still high-quality—they just don’t meet ergonofis’s meticulous standards.
Community & charitable giving:
The company donates 1% of its profits to the David Suzuki Foundation and its mission to protect environmental diversity.
They also volunteer twice a year with Le GRAME, a public interest organization dedicated to cleaning up the city and spreading awareness about sustainability.
3. Branch Furniture
About Branch Furniture
Price Range: $499–$2,849
Branch Furniture makes sustainable standing desks and traditional sitting desks for large corporate environments and home offices alike.
These durable desks—like the flagship Standing Desk—feature distinctly modern, sleek designs with features like adjustable height and easy cable management.
The best part?
The Branch Warranty covers items for ten years, providing customers with replacement parts and repairs to encourage the slow-furniture movement.
Branch Furniture’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Branch Furniture’s desks feature tops made from MDF with impact-resistant melamine finishing paired with a powder-coated steel base.
Although wood composites like MDF and plywood can contain small traces of formaldehyde, Branch complies with laws and regulations to meet safety standards of non-toxic desks.
Their products go through strict testing for safety and durability through in-house and third-party agencies.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Branch partners with manufacturers who share their values and maintain high standards of ethical and environmental practices.
They aim to provide fair wages and safe working conditions to all workers involved in manufacturing and delivery, though we’ll be touching base for more specifics on where their products are made.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
The Branch Flex program allows their corporate clients to request pick-up of their used furniture for refurbishing without any additional cost.
Branch Furniture plans to reduce the waste in its packaging by promoting the use of post-consumer materials.
4. Hoek Home
About Hoek Home
Price Range: $195–$795
Hoek Home produces unique, functional, and high-quality eco-friendly standing desks made of FSC-certified wood.
The NYC-based company has a circular design ethos with its patented snap-lock system.
The modular design allows customers to quickly assemble and disassemble their furniture, making them easy to store and transport—which means you’re more likely to hang onto your new non-toxic computer desk for life.
For those who live in small spaces or are frequently in flux with a hybrid work environment, the Home Office Desk folds up almost flat in seconds, “so your home doesn’t always have to be your office”.
Hoek Home’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
All of Hoek’s furniture is made from locally sourced sustainable materials from Montana and sustainably sourced FSC-certified plywood from Canada.
The base is made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) made from 100% post-consumer waste, like recycled milk jugs.
Hoek uses non-toxic desk top finishes and glues are all products.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Each HoeK piece is designed, precision-crafted, and hand-finished by highly skilled makers in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Combining cutting-edge CNC technology with traditional carpentry techniques, each HOEK piece is meticulously crafted to your specifications.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Hoek provides customers with a lifetime warranty covering any defects in materials or workmanship. They don’t charge any fees for repair or replacements, ensuring a circular design ethos.
5. MasayaCo
About MasayaCo
Price Range: $1,280–$1,380
If you’re looking for a solid wood non-toxic desk, say “hiya” to MasayaCo.
They’ve mastered the art of sustainable wood desks with minimalist and functional designs.
The Tiscapa, made from wood sustainably harvested from their reforestation projects, provides the look of traditional desks without the harm associated with conventional furnishings.
Besides desks, they also produce artisanal dining tables, bed frames, dressers, nightstands, shelves, accent chairs, and other non-toxic furniture.
MasayaCo’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Masaya’s eco-friendly desk materials includes only responsibly-harvested solid hardwoods, like Teak, Royal Mahogany, and Walnut.
They’re finished with low-VOC natural oils, so you can live your best work-from-home life on a formaldehyde-free desk.
Supply chain & labor practices:
MasayaCo originally started as a reforestation project and carried those ideals into their eventually calling making eco desks, sustainable coffee tables, seating, and storage pieces.
Each one is ethically handmade in Nicaragua, supporting 150+ artisans.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
The locally-sourced wood is graded, trimmed, and air-dried in Managua, with biomass and other waste converted to renewable energy.
Masaya’s Seed to Seat business model is helping to reforest land depleted by cattle farming. They annually plant more trees than they harvest, establishing a replenishing cycle that provides environmental and economic benefits.
Community & charitable giving:
Many of MasayaCo’s planted trees are donated to parks, riverbanks, public roads, and other public spaces.
6. Work From Home Desks
About Work From Home Desks
Price Range: $569–$2,519
Work From Home Desks seeks to improve on the standing desk concept with ultra efficient and adjustable non-toxic office desks for adults and sustainable desks for kids alike.
Their flagship WFH Desk is made from EPA and FSC-certified Birch Plywood, with a fully modular design so you can sit or stand.
Other items, like the Lambda, offer an extra minimalist desk design that fits neatly against a wall and sticks out only a couple feet.
Work From Home Desks’ Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
WFH crafts sustainable desks from premium, EPA, and FSC-certified wood.
Though it is plywood, it’s tested for low-formaldehyde, meeting EPA and CARB Phase 2 non-toxic desk standards.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Work From Home’s desks are crafted in Torrance, CA, using raw wood sourced from sustainably managed forests with legal logging operations.
They work with local, reputable plywood manufacturers who meet the highest industry standards.
WFH verifies the testing and conformity certificates of their suppliers to ensure product quality.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
From the initial prototype, WFH has managed to achieve a 50% reduction in energy consumption and a 30% reduction in material waste, like the number of offcuts for each unit.
They also provide customers with Factory Seconds that are damaged, scuffed, and don’t meet their criteria at lower prices to prevent further waste.
7. What WE Make
About What WE Make
Price Range: $1,595–$3,125
Chicago’s What WE Make—AKA wwmake on Etsy—uses sustainable materials to make finely crafted non-toxic hardwood desks.
Their eco-friendly office desks are made from repurposed wood that is so beautiful, you might easily find yourself distracted from work by the gorgeous grains and colors.
Some have shelves while others come with drawers to store all your eco-friendly stationary and office supplies, like the beautifully simple Rustic Office Desk.
What WE Make’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
100+-year-old reclaimed old-growth hardwoods are finished with a VOC-free plant oil-based finish.
Choose between patchwork (a mix of repurposed woods to create a patchwork aesthetic) and plank (reclaimed oak planks that span the entire length of the desk).
Supply chain & labor practices:
The old-growth wood is harvested from midwestern barns and will thus have beautiful variations (weathering, nail holes, knots, splits, etc.).
Being a family-owned-and-operated brand, the wood is turned into each eco desk by brothers Dan and George Quinn in Algonquin, IL.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
WWM uses emission-reducing manufacturing practices, like hand welding and manual woodworking techniques.
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How We Found The Best Eco-Friendly Desk Brands
You may be spending your work-from-home days in sustainable sweatpants, but the things that dictate what makes ethical workout wear are darn similar to those that determine the sustainability of where you work.
Whether we’re looking for sustainable office chairs or eco-friendly sofas for when we finally clock out for the day, these are the things we aim to tick off:
Materials:
When we’re talking about sustainable office desks, eco-friendly materials are the key feature in our presentation.
Sustainable wood desks are a no-brainer (which is good because by the end of a work day, you might feel that way. Wood is a natural, replenishing resource, but we still prefer a reclaimed or recycled wood desk over new timber.
With new timber, responsible harvesting practices are absolutely essential, which is why we look for sustainable forestry certifications, imperfect though they may be.
A solid wood non-toxic desk is also ideal because layered or composite woods (like plywood) often contain glues that can off gas formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals.
We also look for VOC-free or low VOC plant oil or water-based finishes, stains, and sealants.
- Certifications: Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), CARB-2, Recycled Content Standard (RCS)
Supply chain and labor practices:
Working at a desk that supports an artisan with fair wages makes eight hours of spreadsheets better.
We like seeing small, all American or Canadian supply chains and for those whose presentation on labor practices leaves a little to be desired, we’ll be raising our hand and asking for clarification.
- Certifications: fair trade, B Corporation (B Corp)
Carbon commitments & green practices:
A zero waste office can mean lots of things, but we hope that one day it means net-zero office furniture brands.
While none are net-zero, these brands are working to reduce their carbon footprint with sustainable production methods, carbon offset programs, use of renewable energy, local supply chains, and (more than anything) durable and versatile designs that will work as long as you do.
Community & charitable giving:
You shouldn’t forget to get up and stretch every hour, and brands shouldn’t forget to stretch some of their profits to environmental or social organizations when they can.
Final Thoughts On Sustainable Desks For The Home Office
You probably spend more time in your home office than you’d like to, which means more reason to fill it with products that you feel good about and keep you safe.
And as we’ve seen, there’s a wrong way and a write way to do desks.
Sustainable desks mean that no new trees need to be cut down, or those that are being done so in an ecologically-minded manner. They also mean significantly less off-gassing of dangerous chemicals like VOCs and formaldehyde.
More than anything, a sustainable desk is a well-made one that can be passed down for years to come. With this in mind, consider sourcing a durable desk from years past by shopping secondhand.
If you found this article helpful, feel free to share it with someone who’s about to head off to college or finally embracing their new remote office role.
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