Michael Amos, Managing Director of Waste to Wonder Worldwide, joins the show to discuss how organizations can turn redundant corporate assets into life-changing support globally. He explains why furniture often considered "waste" is actually a hidden asset for achieving ESG goals and reducing carbon footprints.
What happens to your office furniture when it's no longer needed? In this episode, IFMA Global Influencer Michael Amos reveals the staggering reality that 99% of corporate furniture ends up in waste streams, even when it still has significant life left.
Michael shares the inspiring journey of Waste to Wonder Worldwide, a hybrid social enterprise that has equipped over 1,500 schools across 50 countries by ethically redistributing corporate assets. We dive into the Circular Economy, and discuss how facilities managers can lead their organizations toward net-zero targets by prioritizing reuse. Whether you are a business leader, an FM professional or a student, this conversation will change how you view the "trash" you may be sitting on right now.
This episode is sponsored by TMA Systems! Discover more at https://www.tmasystems.com/ifmapodcast
Time Stamps:
Michael Amos: [00:00:00] One of the biggest challenges we face is that people's assumption is if we no longer need it, it must be waste.
Part of the education piece is that we are educating organizations of all sizes that what they're sat on are social impact assets, the big ESG, the S bit of ESG. It's also environmental assets in that it prioritizing reuse, reduces your carbon footprint.
So organizations that are on a net zero journey they're literally sat on carbon savings if they do the right thing with it.
Host: Welcome to Connected fm, a podcast connecting you to the latest insights, tools, and resources to help you succeed in facility management. This podcast is brought to you by ifma, the leading professional association for facility managers. If you're ready to grow your network and advance in your career, go to ifma.org to get started.
Today, we're sharing the next installment of our top global FM influencer series hosting this [00:01:00] episode is Edward Wagner, one of our recognized influencers with more than 30 years in the real estate industry, including two decades as a technology executive. So we're gonna hand it over to him as he introduces.
Today's guest.
Edward Wagoner: Today's guest is one of IFMA's global influencers. His work has inspired a new standard in facilities management, one rooted in purpose, responsibility, and measurable impact. He has spearheaded the ethical reuse of over 2,600 tons of corporate assets annually, working with some of the world's biggest companies to divert millions of items from landfills, and in so doing has delivered life-changing support to over 1500 schools.
44 countries a sought after speaker at many of our industry's major global conferences. His accolades include the Green World Award, the [00:02:00] IBM Risso Award, the CBRE Innovation Award, and the Workplace Leaders Top 50 Exemplary, a native Australian currently living in England. He is the Managing director of Waste two Wonder Worldwide, a platinum certified carbon neutral company, and a registered charity.
Please welcome Michael Amos.
Michael Amos: Thank you Eddie. It's it's an absolute pleasure to be with you and obviously a huge privilege. Love ifma love everything they're about.
Edward Wagoner: So you're in, we're in light company today.
As I think about it, you know, there's a lot of people all over the world that watch these podcast episodes.
So, open mic. Michael, you're a global influencer. Influence us.
Michael Amos: Influencers. Okay, cool. Well, I mean, influencers a funny term. I like to educate and I like to inspire with social impact stories. And these are stories that I've experienced and lived with developing over 23 years really in the FM space.
And I think from an [00:03:00] FM perspective, the built environment is enormous. Buildings were born in, live and die in which presents for fm professionals, a really fantastic opportunity to deliver a huge amount of, obviously environmental best practice and performance but also really impact people's lives in a positive way.
Where I mentioned educate. We exist in a bit of a niche space. We like to describe ourselves as niche, but on a massive scale. So, the organization that I run is called Waste to Wonder Worldwide. We're a hybrid organization, so we are ostensibly a project management company at the front end.
And we're a certified social enterprise and a charity at the backend. And we work with large organizations across the built environment, large enterprise clients to manage the ethical clearance and redistribution of their redundant corporate assets. So all of the equipment. In a large building, whether that's a commercial building, so desks and chairs and beds and cupboards or [00:04:00] hospitals in the healthcare setting or from a residential.
So we do work with universities that have student accommodation and of course hospitality, furniture as well. All of that furniture is procured, it's maintained as an asset, and then at some point, for some reason. It shifts into being considered a waste product or a waste stream. So we exist, I suppose the challenge that we exist to solve is what will those organizations do with that furniture when they no longer need it?
So what we did 23 years ago is set up a charitable reuse program to support schools and charities in the developing world. So we've now equipped over 1500 schools in 50 countries with equipment of corporate corporate environments.
Edward Wagoner: Just incredible story. Michael. So many questions. So when someone has excess furniture, how do they know to reach out to you guys?
You know, explain to me how that process starts. 'cause that's I would assume before you or others that do that, a lot of this would [00:05:00] end up in warehouses or landfills and not be used.
Michael Amos: Yeah, I mean EE even today, 99% of all corporate furniture that is procured and manufactured will end up in waste streams.
Obviously at the end of its corporate life and typically when it still has a huge amount of life left in it there's a lot of drivers for why a company will. Get rid of furniture. It could be that they're, things are going well. They're moving to a new office, they've taken on new space.
They're buying lovely new furniture to kit out their office. The opposite is also true. So when things get a little bit sketchy on the the business side of things, maybe they downsize. It can also just be, and obviously we've just gone through the years of COVID where companies have a rapid change.
And the way that they're conducting or operating their workspaces changes fundamentally, and that. At the moment generates a huge amount of waste. So we exist, obviously, as I say, to support schools and charities. With that furniture and equipment. One of the biggest challenges we face is that [00:06:00] people's assumption is if we no longer need it, it must be waste.
How do I dispose of it? Or how do I sustainably dispose of it? So there will look for recycling, furniture, recycling. Part of the education piece that I touched on earlier is that we are educating. Organizations of all sizes that what they're sat on are social impact assets, the big ESG, the S bit of ESG it's also environmental assets in that it prioritizing reuse, reduces your carbon footprint.
So organizations that are on a net zero journey they're literally sat on carbon savings if they do the right thing with it. The partnership that we've had with ifma and I've been really privileged for a number of years to speak at IFMA events, so well, workplace Europe. I was really privileged and overwhelmed to speak at the first global Africa conference, which was Ghana, which is the first place in Africa I ever visited 20 years ago.
So that was a huge joy for me coming back full circle. Full circle. And actually I thoroughly enjoyed I was invited to, to run two [00:07:00] two hour learning labs at Facility Fusion in Austin. My first visit back to the States since about 1997. So that was a joy as well but being able to present the, these concepts of spherical economy, circular economy, seeing things with a social lens.
Not just a, an environmental lens has been fantastic.
And I think that's one of the things that I've most admired from if a's approach, obviously it's a membership. Organization and an advocacy organization. But I really love the learning that's threaded through that and Facility Fusion particularly. 'cause there was a lot of university students who were, you know, sort of interested in or moving into facilities management as a profession.
So to be able to share those. Concept of circular economy and spherical economies. Seeing things through a social impact prism rather than just an environmental or waste prism was wonderful because ultimately these are the leaders of the future. These are the decision makers who are gonna decide, you know, how buildings are operated and how assets are redeployed [00:08:00] at the end of its life.
So, that has been absolutely fantastic fun.
Edward Wagoner: So, a couple of questions because as you're talking, I'm thinking about why wouldn't an organization. Call you or an organization like yours when they have assets that they need to be disposed of. And, you know, one thought that came to mind, and it's always the thought that, you know, the reason the excuse a lot of people will bring up is, well, that's probably gonna cost me money to do that, that I don't have in my budget.
So talk to us a little bit about the difference in cost of, I'm just gonna throw this out or dispose of it, and. The belief that it cost a lot of money to work with an organization like yours to
Michael Amos: Sure.
Edward Wagoner: Ethically, you know? Yeah.
Michael Amos: So as you touched on Eddie, there, there is a cost anyway. There's a cost to just dispose of it through a traditional waste model.
The labor and logistics element is roughly the same. It's men in vehicles taking dismantling and taking the furniture away. The [00:09:00] difference is obviously we have a redistribution capability that is exceptionally large, so we. We donate over two and a half thousand tons of furniture each year to schools and charities around the world.
Wow. So one of the challenges you touched on is volume and capacity. So, small companies with maybe 20 or 30 employees can probably reach out to a local charity and say, we've got some desks and chairs. Would you like to bring a U-Haul down? Take what you like. And then everything else would typically then go for recycling.
For a large organization, they don't have that luxury. If you've got. An office with two or 3000 people, you've got thousands of desks, thousands of chairs, you know, hundreds if not thousands of cupboards. That's a vast amount of furniture. And there are in. Most cities, there are small charities who can take and reuse small amounts of furniture, where to our knowledge, the only global ethical reuse organization.
So we operate our front-end ethical clearance services across Europe across the Middle East across North America now as [00:10:00] well. And we're just starting to look at some projects in Asia Pacific as well, because all of those regions have the same problem. They've got large corporates with large headquarters filled with people and stuff.
And what they want is a unified service that provides the same level of sustainability, social impact, performance ESG, accountability and auditing. I think the other element to this, and facilities management professionals will understand this probably better than most there is has, there's always been an argument, cost versus value.
And facilities managers who are advising their clients on a. You know, maybe getting this HVAC system, it might be a little bit more expensive, but it's gonna last yeah, 50 or a hundred percent longer. It'll have less maintenance, less wear and tear. It'll be easier and cheaper in the long run. The same is true with where the these items go.
So if you are just paying for a waste company to come into your site, chuck in everything, into skips, or chuck everything into vehicles, and then take it to a local dump, [00:11:00] you've got that cost, but no value. With our approach, because we support schools and charities, you've got a huge amount of pr, marketing goodwill.
And of course, from a staff perspective you are also engaging the staff because ultimately buildings are filled with people and people have passions outside work. As much as every boss would love to think that their staff think 24 7 about the business, that's not the case. So. They, them knowing that their items or the redundant items from that office have gone to equip a school in Ghana or Cameroon or Sierra Leone or have funded a bowell.
Young people have access to safe drinking water or simply that a young person's life is, you know, markedly improved because they can actually go to school. And all of the downstream benefits of that sharing that message with all stakeholders is again, that's, that is the value proposition of doing things the right way.
Edward Wagoner: Yeah. I'm [00:12:00] struck by a comment that you made earlier and I'm reminded that. There's a number of studies that say that our buildings are the majority producer of, you know, impact on our environment, and that's the physical building we talk about. You've just added another perspective I hadn't thought about, which is all the things inside that building, and if 99% of those items will eventually end up in a dump.
That's another massive impact. Bigger, you know, and outside of that carbon footprint impact, meaning our impact is even bigger than what I thought about before. When people find out about the service, you know, that you're offering and that we're talking about today, how do they get themselves educated on.
Whether this is the right approach for their company who will help them with this? How do they get more information before they go to their executives internally and propose a more ethical [00:13:00] disposal of furniture through a service like yours versus a traditional call people in, have them haul it off approach.
Michael Amos: Yeah I think ultimately it, it needs to, there, there needs to be a mind shift towards an expectation of you probably can reuse something rather than, it probably can't be reused. So I think as a baseline moving that needle so that organizations look at something and go. Actually, this is way too good to chuck away.
Surely someone can have you know, find it finder use for it. It's interesting from a household, from a per personal perspective, we do this all the time. We donate stuff to, to charity shops, to op shops, whether it's your clothes or if you've got tools that you know you. Inherited from your granddad that you don't use anymore, you will go and take that and donate that to a charity, you know, to facilitate reuse of those items.
So it seems strange to me that large organizations with, you know, countless more tons of stuff than you would have in your typical house, don't [00:14:00] have that same, you know, you know, fix it, mend it, give it to your neighbor approach. We are blessed that we do have a huge amount of demand for equipment.
So one of the challenges for smaller organizations who undertake clearances, and there are logistics, move management, freight type companies that offer, in some cases they will even talk about zero to landfill. Typically what they mean by that is they'll sell some, they'll give some away.
The bulk of it though will go for recycling. So it's technically, it's not gone to landfill, it's gone for recycling, but of course it's missed that huge social impact piece. On medium to large size projects, we operate globally. So of course, the easy thing to say is organizations can read out, reach out, to waste to wonder, and we'll solve the problem for them.
But on a smaller scale, I would say. First and foremost, look to see if there are any local charities near you that can make use of this furniture. Reach out to your children's school. You know, it's desks and chairs and beds and cupboards. Maybe they can [00:15:00] use some of this equipment. Where we exist though, is typically for the large enterprise clients who have a huge amount of stuff that would swamp the local demand for local schools and charities or that the organizations in fairness.
We make it easy for them because we're managing the entire process. So they're not having to deal with a local charity coming and taking five items and another charity saying, I don't want that 'cause of the wrong color, and so on. So, yes, doing it as a managed process makes a lot of sense, certainly for larger organizations, and that's why we work for, you know, the Citi Banks and HSBCs and IBMs.
Nokia's and Ericsson's and those type of organizations on a regular basis. We also do a huge amount of work through the facilities management sector. So we've got some wonderful partners in CBRE and Sodexo JLL where. They are managing sites for their clients and we become part of the products and services that they can deliver as part of that framework agreement.
So, those [00:16:00] partnerships work really well. The other strong partnerships we have is actually with furniture manufacturers and interior design and fit up companies. 'cause invariably they're the first ones to. To recognize that there are redundant existing assets that are going to be replaced with new furniture and equipment.
So we work a lot alongside and have done for almost two decades. In some cases, with new furniture manufacturers, we become their ethical takeback partner. When they're selling new product. They offer a clearance service, which is fulfilled by us. So the client is getting a true circular procurement.
Strategy at that point. They're buying new furniture and equipment and know that their redundant furniture and equipment is going to go out and do some amazing things for communities in need.
Edward Wagoner: so, just so much to unpack there. My, my brain's spinning a little bit. You know, I hadn't thought about partnerships with the service providers, the CBRE, Sodexo JLLs, and I'm thinking about, you know, when I worked for the service [00:17:00] providers, a hundred thousand employees, it's hard.
For that message to get to everyone. So to our listeners who work for the big service providers, checking internally to see if there's already a relationship, I think, you know, is an incredible opportunity for a lot of people. And if it's a service provider listening that doesn't have a relationship.
Sounds like they need to create one from a competitive standpoint because you named some of the big players and we know that when they focus on something, that's something the market needs to pay attention to. I also love that you added the design and the furniture firms because those relationships probably help source a lot and help the client.
So then lastly, you name dropped some. Some big corporations. I mean, you know, we don't even have to ask what they do. We know it when we hear the name. And if those organizations are using your methodology to dispose of their furniture, that's [00:18:00] also a wake up call for others who aren't, because that is going to competitively change that particular dynamic.
Michael, let me ask you, A lot of people have reporting requirements around their ESG goals. Is that something that you help them quantify and give back? You know, the certified information, if you will, so that they can report on that if they need to in their regulatory or financial reporting.
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Michael Amos: Absolutely. It's something, it's a lesson we learned early on. If it can't be measured, don't do it. It's that old adage. Yes, we've been producing, obviously in our ESG reports, but for many years we had CSR reports. Basically on every project we take a full inventory of all the items that leave site.
We then detail where all of those items go. So the schools and charities that receive the equipment, if there is damaged furniture and equipment, obviously that's not. Appropriate to donate. So that gets recycled. So we manage that process as well. So, you know, there, there may be a report that has an element, a small element of waste disposal, but that's captured also.
And since 2010 have been reporting on the embedded carbon of the furniture that's gone for reuse. And I'll circle back to that 'cause I've got, just had some really exciting numbers. And of course the fair market value. So for large organizations, this is effectively can in in and alongside.
Solving the problem of how do I get rid of my stuff? We [00:20:00] are a social enterprise and a charity, so a lot of organizations have a social impact spend target. So for those organizations, and I mentioned CBRE and Sodexo they certainly have global ESG diverse suppliers and spend spend targets. We fall into that category.
The fair market value of the icon donated form, part of that reportable social impact value as well. So again, that, that's another step in that journey of creating value from just what has historically been a pure cost. The carbon piece is really interesting. We've always reported on the embedded carbons, as I say since 2010, the embedded carbon of the items.
We've always really emphasized the social impact. You know, kids going to school that couldn't go to school, improving the learning environments and all of those other wonderful things. We did a project for CBRE, so as part of CBRE's preferred supply chain a few years ago, they started piloting with some of their preferred suppliers to look at Scope three emissions.
So how does their supply chain, you know, add or [00:21:00] subtract from their carbon impact as an organization? So we looked at our school in a Box program. So our school, A Box is a 40 foot container filled with furniture and equipment, and that is our international reuse program. So that's gone out to the 1500 plus schools in 50 countries.
We looked at the contents of those containers, the carbon cost to transport those containers to the end recipient. And we in that instance, we looked at London to Sierra Leone and. There's about two ton of carbon cost to get a container's worth of of material to the end destination.
But there's a huge amount of carbon savings achieved through reuse over those items, going for disposal, and then the recipient having to have new furniture manufactured to meet their requirements. Our later set of carbon reports where NNC Z Platinum Certified Carbon Neutral, our carbon.
Cost was about 500 ton of carbon organizationally and operationally, which sounds a [00:22:00] lot, but when you put it into perspective that in that same year we actually saved 5,000 tons of carbon. Mm-hmm. So we've got a 10 x. Bene carbon saving compared to our carbon cost as an organization. And again, I think as companies are starting to transition towards net 0, 20 30 or 2040 or 2050 the fact that baked into the solving of a a logistic problem or a site problem to get rid of stuff, our really impressive carbon savings is also a really strong value add over and above just chugging the stuff away.
Edward Wagoner: I love that. And you know, as you were talking, I was thinking of the, you know, decade or so ago when Oprah Winfrey funded a school out of her own pocket. And many of us think, well, I'll never have enough money to do that. Here's an opportunity where we can take things that we're going to get rid of anyway in our organizations and have a bit of the same impact.[00:23:00]
Michael Amos: And it's not a little bit, it's a huge amount of impact. We did a project recently, I mean, we've been operating for 23 years in this space and we're, we're still learning. We did a fantastic project with British Airways. We did it in partnership with a furniture manufacturer to UK based although they do have a strong US presence as well, a company called Boss Design.
They make soft seating, fantastic soft seating. They had the contract to provide the new soft seating, so, you know, privacy pods and sofas and set to British Airways business and first class lounges at GA and Heathrow Airport in the uk. The, we were tasked to clear the legacy furniture. The challenge that we identified on that particular project is the furniture was quite big and bulky.
So if you're talking about a small school in rural Ghana, yeah, a four seater sofa would take up 30% of the floor space within the classroom. So what we did is we worked with our recipient charities that we support in The Gambia, and they'd identified that one of the barriers to [00:24:00] education was a lack of safe drinking water.
So kids weren't going to school because their village. Didn't have a bull well. So they were walking four or five miles a day to neighboring villages to access safe drinking water, to, to obviously to drink, to wash with and to grow, you know, carrying buckets on their heads and shoulders back to their village to grow some crops and things like that.
So their priority wasn't school. Their priority was literally having that next glass of water that isn't gonna give me decent tree. So we, working with the recipient charity, we actually started generating funds from some of that. British Airways Legacy furniture, we cleared about 55 tons of it, so it was a lot of furniture, and we started funding Bo Wells.
We've now funded over 30 solar powered Bo Wells. Each bowell provides safe drinking water for around 2000 people, so that's about 60,000 people who can now drink water that isn't gonna make them sick, and those, the children within those communities can now go to school. So I think that ripple effect of [00:25:00] doing things the right way.
Is a lot more than just a desk, a desk and a chair from a company in a school. That obviously happens in large volumes. But it's a lot more, the social impact is a lot more than
Edward Wagoner: what an incredible story. And thank you for telling us that because as you were telling it, it really expanded my thinking about, you know, don't just look at it as a piece of furniture, or Nobody would want this furniture or.
This first class lounge furniture wouldn't really work in a school. There's so many different ways you can take that.
Michael Amos: Yeah.
Edward Wagoner: Ethically repurpose
Michael Amos: it. Literally challenge the perception of waste. We don't see anything as waste. We see it as a social impact asset or an opportunity. So yeah.
Edward Wagoner: So if somebody thinks they've got some weird assets that could never be reused, you're saying Challenge me.
Give me a call. Let me know what you've got and let's see what we can do with it.
Michael Amos: We're doing a really cool project, actually, it's our first project for this particular client in the us. I won't mention it 'cause I'm not sure if we're under [00:26:00] embargoes or anything, but it's a large pharmaceutical company and they reached out and they've got eight or nine trucks worth, big trucks worth of.
Lab equipment you know, glass, flasks and all those sorts of things. And we've been able to identify a load of actual in this instance, a load of universities and colleges schools that can make use of it. So that project is actively happening right now.
Edward Wagoner: I love that.
So the message to everyone is you're not gonna create a lot of work for them. You're basically gonna, you know, the work to pull the stuff out, they're gonna have to do anyway.
Michael Amos: Pretty much the, and the cost that they would have, yeah. Exists anyway, so we're not creating a new cost center for them.
It's from an existing cost,
Edward Wagoner: your satisfying reporting requirements and metrics that they have around ESG, and then just from a right thing to do, helping people that are potentially less fortunate or that have a need that could be met by that equipment and furniture, which also sends a message internally to your people.
Your [00:27:00] clients and your communities about the impact your organization is having, not just locally, but on a global basis. I love that story, and I love the way that you and your organization take all of the guesswork out of it through, you know, what you know, how to do your 23 years of experience, your connections and every story you told has just really opened my eyes and I'm sure our audience's eyes to how they should be thinking.
About that ugly piece of furniture that they're looking to get rid of could actually be a beautiful asset for someone who has that need.
Michael Amos: And I think if I can put my influencer hat on, people within organizations and in the built environments and IFMA members are doing great things every day.
There are unsung heroes across the facilities management sector, you know, who are, you know, from our perspective they're identifying local schools and charities. They're helping out. They're you know, they're helping out their local food bank and those sorts of things.
One of the things we happen to do really [00:28:00] well is tell the story of the impact. And I think for all organizations and if a professionals, if you've come across a a product or a solution or a service which is more ethical, more sustainable, more impactful, share it. Share it with your colleagues. Share it with your management team.
And you know, from an across industries, we should be sharing best practice as well.
Edward Wagoner: I love that. Thank you so much, Michael, for that. Our members love to know a little bit more about our guests. You know, who is the man behind the name?
Michael Amos. So if you're open to that, who are some of the biggest influencers on you and the things that you've done?
Michael Amos: Yeah, so I, I've been really fortunate. I kind of fell into this. My father-in-law had a move management logistics company, so doing traditional moves and changes and things. And when I first came over from Australia 23 years ago we sort of came up with the concept of what is now waste of wonder supporting schools and charities.
But my. First real. The first influencers that really [00:29:00] emotionally affected me were the recipients. So in my early to mid twenties, I went out to Boggo Tanga, Northern Ghana you know, right at the top of the country, middle of nowhere, extreme poverty. And we donated some furniture and equipment and actually some IT equipment as well to to, to a wonderful charity.
And there was a lady there called Mama Ladi. Who was being supported by the charity. They were building her a house, mama LA's house. She was a nurse a sort of a regional nurse. And she started adopting children who had been a abandoned. There was a real problem of. Basically, if you were born a triplet or a twin that was considered an evil omen.
So, so, mm-hmm. The mothers and the children were cast out of the village. So Mama Ladi was adopting an a load of orphaned babies and young children. And when Africa kids, the charity were supporting first came across her, she was literally living in a one bedroom house. She was sleeping on the table, the kitchen table, the [00:30:00] children were taking up all the floor space.
And it's that. That concept of obviously resilience but giving when you've got nothing. Obviously I grew up sort of ostensibly a Christian, so I had that sort of as a core, but that was the first time I saw it in black and white in, you know, absolute crystal clear clarity, 4K vision.
And I think, so that became then. This wasn't just a job, it was a lifelong passion, a commitment, a mission, if you will. So I've been, and then I've had countless repeats of those types of stories. The Borewell project you know, the Born Free Foundation in Limb Bay, Cameroon, where I got to spend time with orphan baby chimpanzees as part of a primate rescue program that we supported.
And all of these things on an ongoing basis have influenced, us in terms of the direction that we would take as an organization. And almost always that influence was we need to do more. So yeah, that, that has always been the baseline whenever we've come back from a recipient visit was we need to do more.
So yeah that's what's influenced me.
Edward Wagoner: And it was [00:31:00] Mama Laday, did I say her name correctly?
Michael Amos: Mama LA's House. Yeah, she's still mama la She's still around, she's still doing amazing things. And actually Africa Kids their mission, we're going off on a bit of a tangent, so whether this makes the cut or not, but their mission.
So they were uk they started by UK Charity. They set up a really strong Ghanaian leadership team and their ambition. Was always to build the resilience and the team in Ghana so that they didn't have to be UK led and effectively do themselves out of a job. And last year we actually helped, sorry, 2024, we actually helped relocate the furniture from Africa's UK office 'cause they were closing down that office and the few UK staff were moving to Homeworking and that furniture we helped redistribute up to Northern Ghana as well.
Yeah, that was sort of a 20 year partnership.
Edward Wagoner: Love that. And you know, as you were telling your story about Mama Lati, I thought it's amazing how the people that have the least often are the ones that give the most of what they have. And so I think that's a [00:32:00] message to all of us, especially those of us that have plenty.
We've got huge corporations that are getting rid of furniture. Not because it's at the end of its useful life, but because it's not the right decor or the proper style, there's so much that's perfect. Mama Lottie can do what she does. How much more can we do for people? And so I think that would be my message out to the audience and being influenced by you and just this short conversation.
There's a huge opportunity in our daily lives to give back. You know, in ways that we don't usually think to think differently about the things that we are going to potentially waste, and how can we actually create a wonder by thinking differently and reaching out to people like you, Michael. Yeah.
Michael Amos: And if organizations, are made aware of waste to wonder, and they can see that, oh, there is a reuse pathway for this equipment. The opportunity for [00:33:00] companies of all sizes to have an outsize impact just by changing the, you know, one process without even adding necessarily any more money to, to the cost to do this.
I, for us it's a no brainer. It's a why wouldn't you support your neighbor? When they're in need. Yeah. If you're in a position to.
Edward Wagoner: Love that. And I'm sure there are some people that will listen to this podcast who aren't in facilities management and are gonna go ask questions inside their organizations about how do we dis ethically dispose of our excess furniture?
Have we considered this option? So I'm hoping that we have influenced a lot of people to think differently about how they handle their excess equipment. That they reach out and that we have an even bigger social impact and environmental impact just through minimal efforts. Michael, thank you so much for joining us today, and congratulations again on being named an IFMA Global influencer.
Michael Amos: Thanks, Eddie. Absolutely [00:34:00] pleasure.
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