New designs for office chairs are being introduced rapidly, especially since the pandemic forced many people to stay at home. Community lockdowns mean working or studying from home. And when things are done remotely, you must have a proper home office or online school setup.
There are plenty of office chairs available, but we are not sure what percentage is environment-friendly. There are green options, but we don’t hear much about them. The Path Task Chair is a fine example of a sustainable product that is made of recycled materials.
Designer: Todd Bracher
Humanscale has come up with a Path task chair made in the United States. So if you live in the US, you can easily buy the chair and not worry about additional carbon emissions due to shipping. The new Path Task Chair is available with a higher price tag that reads $1,200, but it’s greener in several ways.
The “new path forward” reference is for Humanscale’s efforts in choosing a new path where sustainability is part of the equation. For example, a chair uses about 22 pounds of recycled plastic—about half is ocean plastic, while the rest is from reclaimed fisherman nets. Humanscale aims to deliver eco-friendly products with materials that are sustainable and through a production process that also increases the project’s efficiency. The plant where the chair is manufactured in New Jersey is solar-powered and uses recycled rainwater. Humanscale is also proud to say that the Path Chair “removes 6 kg of CO2e from the atmosphere, replenishes 15 gallons of water, and generates 23 kWh of energy.”
Humanscale wants to introduce a new standard in sustainability. Upcycling materials such as plastic nets and plastic containers greatly impact the planet. The top plate, arm support, and mechanism housing are made with post-consumer and industrial aluminum and steel. The chair’s structural components are “green” so you’re doing Mother Earth a favor.
The company has been making waves in the industry by working on getting certifications that matter. Humanscale boasts of using healthy materials, sustainable operations, and material transparency. All these and more allow the firm to receive Level Certification.
Path Designer Todd Bracher describes the chair as not just “an exercise in aesthetics or an assembly of pre-existing components, rather it is ground up mechanical invention, material innovation, coupled with next-level sustainability.” Parts of the chair include a mesh-like textile called FormSense Eco Knit. This provides self-adjusting lumbar support that is a custom fit for every user. The yarn used is also made with 100% post-consumer recycled polyester from upcycled plastic bottles.
The Humanscale Path Task Chair is available in different colors and comes with a silhouette that can fit any home or office interior. It delivers seating innovation with ergonomic consideration for most of the population. The chair features Gravity Mechanism that adjusts recline support automatically for each user. It doesn’t come with any knobs or bulky levers.
