Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman speaks with Organized Living single-family marketing director Sarah Wise about the storage systems featured in the House Sussex demonstration home. Wise explains how supplier vetting, PVC-free powder coatings, and certified wood materials support the company's ESG commitments.
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Sara Gutterman: I'm here today with Sarah Wise, the single family marketing director for Organized Living. So Organized Living offers innovative storage solutions. Tell me a little bit more about those.
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Sarah Wise: So at work and living, we offer full breadth of storage solutions, ranging from ventilated wire to fixed to adjustable to built in solutions. So we really kind of have that full package. We really pride ourselves on the quality, so we actually don't sell any of our products in big box stores. We sell predominantly, most of them through our nationwide network of installing dealers.
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Sarah Wise: So we really tried to make it easy. Our products are mainly to be installer friendly. You don't have to be a trim carpenter to kind of pick up on what we do. And we really just don't sacrifice quality at all.
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Sara Gutterman: We're proud to showcase organized living systems in the House Sussex, which is our latest demonstration project with Tim O'Brien homes in the greater Milwaukee area in Sussex. So tell us about the products that we're using in that project and why they're a good fit for these sustainable and attainable homes.
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Sarah Wise: So if we're looking at our product lines more of like a higher, more holistic perspective, we really start from the beginning. You know, who we are partnering with and who our suppliers are and the materials that we're gathering for our products. So we really are, you know, conscious of the suppliers that we're working with, the types of certifications that they have.
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Sarah Wise: You know, we really ensure that their sustainability philosophies are in alignment with ours and are willing to also change processes in place, if needed, to really have a better impact on the environment. So there are, you know, one of our products in the home is lifetime. Our fixed wire solution. And so obviously predominantly most of that material is coming from steel.
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Sarah Wise: So we had a steel supplier that was treating large steel coil with like an acid toxin that was being released into the environment, which obviously isn't the best case scenario. So we were able to really work with them and modify that process of manufacturing and removing those toxins and chemicals altogether. So it's really just it's good to know that the materials that we're getting are not only having a better impact on the environment, but of course, the materials were receiving to manufacture our products are also taking in consideration of how we're doing that as well.
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Sarah Wise: So lifetime, which I mentioned, is it is in a few areas of the home and how we do all of our wire shelving is we actually bag on an epoxy powder coating. So this doesn't really any harmful VOCs. It's PVC free. So it is not putting anything toxic into the into the air. And this also allows for kind of the the lifespan of the product to last longer as well because it doesn't allow for cracking chipping, any kind of discoloration.
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Sarah Wise: So we really are just aiming to put not only the right materials and work with suppliers, but how we manufacture kind of all together. And then looking at our other product that is in the home. So like wood. So Freedom rail is another system that we have featured. But yeah. So we partner with with suppliers that hold the right certifications and the FSC and the TSC compliance really ensuring that it's recyclable product that we're utilizing.
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Sarah Wise: So the board specifically is a thermal fuzed laminate particle board. So we really do try to ensure that the materials that we're utilizing in our product lines are sustainable and in kind of impacting the environment in a positive way. So just not only are we considering materials like I mentioned, but we're really ensuring that the product itself is high quality and really is meant to last a lifetime.
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Sarah Wise: So we're not having to rip it down in five years and having to replace it and fill more stuff in the landfills. So we're really consider it kind of all together with, with how we're doing that and how we're manufacturing.
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Sara Gutterman: Our early adopter and first mover consumer audience, the majority of which are now millennials and older Gen Z, who have seized that top influencer position in the housing market. They tell us that environmental, social and governance, or ESG, is now the most important purchase driver when selecting products for their homes. So tell me a little bit more about Organized Living's ESG and corporate sustainability initiatives.
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Sarah Wise: Organized living has been providing high quality products for the home for more than 100 years. So we really want to, you know, continue organizing homes and improving life for another 100 plus years. And really, to do this, we have to expand on that and that legacy that we have in place by being, you know, very mindful with our sustainability initiatives.
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Sarah Wise: And it's really at the forefront of everything that we do at organized living. So our sustainability philosophy, it probably stems from our core values. So do the right thing, act with passion, build winning partnerships, think long term and then learn, grow, change in Excel. So really holding ourselves, you know, to these values that we have in place, we continually continuously consider our environmental responsibility.
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Sarah Wise: So when it comes to working with suppliers and partners, we really ask them to to do the same. And by having kind of an alignment there with the partners that we have in place in our efforts, that's really how we try to make a difference in our ecological footprint. So we really do pay attention. Like I mentioned, we really want to build those winning partnerships and really align the materials that we're getting to be more sustainable with the efforts that we're doing here at Organized Living.
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Sarah Wise: And then, of course, how we're manufacturing our products, ensuring that the manufacturing systems and processes that we have in place, we're thinking about it long term, like investing in, you know, greater capital that we're not having to constantly repurchase new a clean factory, things of that sort. And then of course, the actual manufacturing of the product. So really trying to make sure the material and the quality of the product is great, but it's also expanding the lifespan of the product line.
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Sarah Wise: Again, not to have to waste and tear down down the road. We really want it to last as long as it can. So everything really does sim from those kind of core values of ours, and aligning that to all the decisions that we make as a company.