Founded on Earth Day in 2005 with a vision to work with corporations to divert their surplus furniture into the hands of communities, instead of piling up in landfills, ANEW is celebrating 20 years of environmental stewardship.
Founder Rose Tourje had a bleak realization during her successful career in commercial interior design when one day she witnessed furniture actually being hurled out the windows of an office building, crashing to the pavement below, where fork lifts were filling dumpsters headed straight to the landfill.
She thought, if this is happening with a large public company in Los Angeles, this must be happening everywhere.
Rose found this unacceptable and irresponsible, and after 30 years of a design career, she decided to leave and set a new industry standard.
That’s how ANEW was born, with the goal of extending the life-cycle of office furniture through reuse, resale, repurposing, and recycling—all while benefiting nonprofits, public agencies, and the poor.
ANEW is now a leader in inspiring companies to see waste differently—and work together to grow circular economies that benefit communities, businesses, and the natural world.
Through more than 435 projects, ANEW has partnered with companies like Toyota and Kaiser and organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill, helping them achieve their social and environmental sustainability goals.
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“We have enabled over 600 recipient organizations to allocate their financial resources toward sustaining and expanding their essential services, ultimately benefiting thousands of people in local communities,” they wrote in their 20-year milestone press release.
Since 2015, they’ve stopped more than 8,000 tons of waste from entering U.S. landfills and prevented 6,207 tons of greenhouse gas from harming the atmosphere.
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Based in Los Angeles, ANEW is making a lasting impact by “doing what’s right with what’s left”—and by raising awareness of the benefits of “Surplus Stewardship” through free workshops, presentations and case studies.
Last year, ANEW launched the first of two accredited CEU courses to help architecture and design professionals learn how to apply circularity in order to strengthen local economies, manage resources, and reduce waste.
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And their independently audited projects show measurable results—with positive impacts on both the environmental and social fronts—changing the world, one desk and conference table at a time.
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