Office Supplies Blog

The office with THE VIEW

Taipei 101, residing in the heart of Taiwan, Is currently ranked as the world’s tallest building at 1667 feet upon completion in 2005. However, the building’s boast to fame may not be for long as the Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE, is in the final stages of construction and awaiting occupancy in 2009. Is it just me, or has Dubai being attempting to outrank everyone and everything in breadth, width, and height?

Wearable office space

Designed by Fashion Superstar Hussein Chalayan, who consistently pushes the boundary of fashion in terms of material, construction, and spatial configurations. In this dress, designed for the 2000 winter collection, where he explored the relationship between furniture & fashion, he was able to turn workable surface into a fashion statement, and vice versa. Now if only someone could turn office work into something just as fashionable, or as easy to get in or get out of? Mmm, now that’s food for thoughts!

The Google Plex, need I say more?

Probably one of the more guesstimated, gossiped about, or simply googled workplace since its inception. The Google Plex, located in Mountain View, California, home to some of the most sought after employees in the world, include office amenities and benefits that are truly the stuff of legends. Just to name a few, the Plex come fully stocked with micro-kitchens, giant rubber balls, Legos, and is comprised of 11 cafeterias of diverse selections, various sports facilities, and laundry rooms. Now, the eternal question, does the office make the employee, or employee the office?

Office on the go
The next time you feel frustrated working with coworkers, doesn’t seem productive at all, senses and minds dulled by the humdrum sounds of the office appliances, take a spin on this phenomenal device and take your office duties outside. I am sure the collaborative efforts required and the rush of fresh oxygen will boost not only camaraderie, but brain cell and muscle cell productivity. Anyone up for a collective ride?

The cheapest office suite lying around- you can own one too

OpenOffice is an all inclusive office suite released in 2000 with the aim of providing people with a high qualified alternative to the Microsoft Office, in an attempt to reduce the monopolistic hold Microsoft has on the word-processing sphere. This is not exactly the first thing one would think of when one mentions the words cool office suite, however for the unlimited white open space allotted for one to exercise their productive imagination, at the relative price of none, I am getting one and so definitely should you!

Green is Good

And, going green at work is easier than you might think, especially when you consider that every day there are more and more “green” products available.

Inside this catalog, you’ll find nearly 2,500 environmentally friendly items from the Office Products, Technology, Furniture and Jan/San categories…everything from paper to cleaning supplies, and furniture to electronics…all with environmental benefits. In fact, every product presented on these pages meets one of the following criteria:

• Recycled materials, with emphasis on post-consumer content
• Energy-efficient
• Compostable or biodegradable
• Non-toxic
• Reusable

Going green means making everyday choices and performing everyday actions that have a positive impact on the environment as well as the bottom line. So, whether you’re just getting into the green or you’re interested in taking it to a new level, inside you’ll also find helpful tips to put to work.

Spend Smart on Green

The purchase and use of environmentally-friendly products can have a big impact, and not just on the environment. Buying green affects everything from worker safety to the bottom line.

• Products that are reusable, refillable, more durable or repairable create less waste and are more cost-effective in the long run than disposable or single-use products.
• Manufacturing recycled products uses less energy than goods made from virgin materials. Buying recycled products keeps recycling programs going and saves natural resources.
• Using energy-efficient and water-conserving products saves money and resources.
• When making purchasing decisions, it pays to do a little homework. Consider the following:
• Is the product less hazardous?
• Is it reusable or more durable?
• Is it made from recycled materials? Do we really need to buy a virgin product when the recycled version is just as good?
• What happens to the product at the end of its life? Can it be recycled? Will the manufacturer take the product back? Will it need special disposal?
• Does it conserve energy or water?
• Is it made from renewable plant-based raw materials?

Leave a Big Mark—Not a Big Footprint

Living and working green means knowing your carbon footprint and taking steps to balance its impact. Offsetting your company’s carbon footprint is the fastest and most economical way to help protect critical forests worldwide, which is one of the most effective solutions to climate change. One way to offset your carbon footprint is to support renewable energy (energy generated from renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal) by buying renewable energy credits (RECs).

Additionally, utility companies may work with industrial and commercial consumers to implement on-site energy-efficiency measures which can decrease usage or shift a portion of it to off-peak hours and rates.

Be a Star—Buy Energy Star

The next time your office is in the market for computer equipment, printers, fax machines, kitchen appliances or even light bulbs, look for the Energy Star certification. Energy Star products are among the top energy performers on the market. One example of why is that some Energy Star products power down automatically when not in use—conserving up to 75% of electricity compared to standard models. They reduce pollution, lower energy bills, generate less heat and have a longer life span than other equipment. See www.energystar.gov for more information.

Get Energized

Of the $250 billion spent per year on powering computers worldwide, only about 15% of that power is spent computing—the rest is wasted idling. 40% of the energy used for electronics is used while these devices are turned off. Obviously, just because a device is turned off or not in use, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t eating up electricity. In fact, even when a computer is switched off, the surge protector can still draw energy—up to 75%!

• Programming your computer to sleep after 30 minutes of non-use can cut power demand by up to 90%.
• Stepping away for longer than 30 minutes? Turn the computer off and unplug the surge protector. (Booting up again uses the equivalent of only two seconds of run time and won’t hurt the hard drive).
• Monitors are especially big energy drains. Be sure to turn them off after 20 minutes of non-use.
• Printers, scanners and peripherals that are only used occasionally should be unplugged until needed.
• Get the Green Light
• Making green choices when it comes to lighting not only provides energy efficiency and savings, it also adds to the comfort, productivity and ambience of your workplace.
• Replace regular incandescent bulbs and fixtures with Energy Star-qualified compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). CFLs cast a warmer, soft white glow. Although initially more expensive than regular bulbs, they use between 60% and 80% less energy and last much longer (between 6,000 and 15,000 hours compared with about 1,000 hours with incandescents).
• Use task lighting.
• Install dimmers and timers to extend bulb life.
• Don’t underestimate the power of natural daylight, it’s free, it’s pleasant and has been proven to improve worker productivity and customer satisfaction. Also, be sure that walls are painted in a light color to enhance the advantage of that natural light.
• Lighting accounts for up to 50% of a building’s energy consumption. By simply turning off unnecessary lights, you can reduce the amount of energy used for lighting by up to 45%.

Remanufactured cartridges have been recycled and reprocessed from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) cartridge. For example, Innovera® cartridges are built from the original OEM cores. This saves significant materials by recycling the OEM product and also has strict quality controls so that your Innovera cartridge meets the OEM specifications. Help the environment with quality products! All Innovera products come with a manufacturer’s limited one-year warranty.

Is a Remanufactured Cartridge inferior to a new one?

There should be no difference in print quality or page yield with a properly remanufactured cartridge. To meet OEM performance, cartridges should contain only quality toners that work well with all other replacement parts.

Am I really helping the environment by using Remanufactured Cartridges?

Definitely. Each discarded cartridge adds approximately three pounds of unnecessary waste to our landfills—waste that will take as long as 1,000 years to decompose. It is estimated that 100 million laser and printer cartridges and 400 million inkjet printer cartridges are produced each year. Remanufacturing these 500 million cartridges will save an estimated four million cubic feet of landfill space. The office products remanufacturing industry has already made—and will continue to make—a substantially positive impact on the environment and the economy.

White-knuckled and gripping onto the lectern, I remember one of my 1^st speech presentation classes in college. Although I had performed as both a musician and an actor, this presentation was a bit different: all I had was a piece of paper, my personality and what little courage I could muster up to maintain the interest of 40-odd freshmen at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. I’d always considered myself fairly well-spoken and confident, but my merciless professor eagerly pointed out every ‘uhh’, ‘umm’ and ‘like’ during my presentation to the point where I was ready to call it a day & high-tail it out of the lecture hall.

Looking back on that moment, I realize that a lot of the success or failure of your presentation-giving abilities has to do with self-confidence, which is often a characteristic you can build only through time and life experiences. When working within a business capacity, whether in a corporate environment or a non-profit setting, speaking in front of a group can often be a daunting task that many adults dread. Nevertheless, it’s a known fact that presentations are indeed a valuable marketing technique, allowing companies to actively promote and pitch their products in an immeasurably effective and dynamic way. What other opportunity do you have to make such a personalized or targeted impression on a potential client or customer?

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Picture this: a pyramid of 1,200 Styrofoam cups sitting atop 600 plastic water bottles, thousands of plastic utensils, stacks upon stacks of printed brochures and a truckload of promotional gizmos such as pens, key chains, mousepads and magnets.

Now multiply that by a million and ship it out to landfills nationwide.

This is just a quick exercise to illuminate a growing problem: the impact of America’s convention & meeting industry, a $107 billion industry that serves 136.5 million people attending 1.2 million business events annually.

Many of us in the corporate world attend annual tradeshows hosting thousands of vendors, clients and potential business associates within our industries. So you can only begin to conceive of the waste such events produce – imagine each event as the building and deconstruction of a small city, consuming a vast array of disposable products within just a matter of days. The country’s 1.2 million business meetings, trade shows and conventions affect the environment in a number of ways - through the greenhouse gases emitted during travel, the electricity and water consumed during events and hotel stays, the exhibit booths built from scratch and then dismantled, and the countless brochures, PowerPoint handouts, promotional giveaways, meals & bottled beverages that are consumed and disposed of. Read the rest of this entry »

So, you’re thinking about converting your office or small business to an eco-friendly environment, but maybe you’re not sure where to begin. Well, for starters, there are many alternatives to traditional office supplies. Contrary to popular to belief, it’s much easier (and less costly) to switch over to earth-conscious products. While many people think that green items are more expensive, they are typically available at equal price with no less functionality. Simple changes – such as converting your regular light bulbs to the new low-energy fluorescent CFL bulbs – are green alternatives that make sense, both planet and dollar-wise: on average, one compact fluorescent light bulb saves an average of $35 in the energy costs over the life of the bulb, compared to a standard bulb.

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Planning meetings and seminars. Booking your flight. Reminding you of your itinerary. Even re-ordering your office supplies! These are just a few of the daily responsibilities your secretary or administrative assistant performs on a daily basis, multitasking his or her little heart out. Without them, your office would probably not function as the well-oiled machine your staff has become familiar with – who would make sure the water coolers were full, the fax machine was using recycled paper, or your luncheon was catered to accommodate your vegan guest?

Never a dull moment, an admin’s calendar is filled with multiple tasks, wearing many hats, and constantly maintaining the equilibrium of office activities. While you and your staff are aware of the valuable contributions assistants offer to your company, Secretary’s Day, also known as Administrative Professionals Day (celebrated this year throughout the U.S. and Canada on Wednesday, April 23, 2008) is the perfect opportunity to show your appreciation & gratitude. With its history dating back to 1952, Secretary’s Day is still just as relevant today, reinforcing the morale of your assistants and acknowledging their hard work and dedication.

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President Bush was asked whether he believed global warming was a “real and significant threat to the planet.” Bush claimed there is still a real debate over the cause of global warming. Watch it and judge for yourself.

Photo courtesy of Sandra Suppa, FABER-CASTELL GmbH & Co., Germany

PENCIL FOR A HUGE PERFECTIONIST?
Guinness listed it as the World’s Largest Pencil in 2006 - at nearly 65 feet tall and requiring 7000+ man-hours over a two year period to complete…but where’s the eraser?

IF GODZILLA WAS A GRAFITTI ARTIST…
This giant magic marker, featured on a California art supply store (along with an oversized fountain pen and other goodies) is part of Luke’s Roadside Attractions…what cross-country trip would be complete without seeing this?

WHEN GETTING A PAPER CUT = HOSPITAL VISIT
Proudly boasting the title of “The World’s Largest Piece of Handmade, Recycled Paper”, the folks at Twisted Limb Paperworks created this enormous sheet of paper to raise money for several environmental organizations…go Green! (My only question: is there a world’s largest band-aid?)

BUT DO YOU PRESS DOWN ON THE KEYS…OR STEP ON THEM?
The New York Typewriter weighed 14 tons and required three years to build. Letters were typed on 9′ by 12′ stationary. The ribbon in the machine was 100′ long and 5″ wide. Featured at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, NY, I’d imagine you had to be really strong to use this thing.

AND THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE…
If it were a real envelope, I don’t think I’d want to lick it shut. Where’s the world’s largest envelope moistener?!

SIGN BY THE ‘X’…
This Giant Fountain Pen is part of the sign over the entrance to Fahrney’s Pens in Washington, DC. (perfect for the person who’s always losing their pen).

World’s Largest Rubber Band Ball:
Weight: 4,000+ lbs.
Height: 5.5 feet
Circumference: 19 feet
Number of rubber bands: 175,000
Amount of time wasted: priceless

It’s tax time again, and that means it’s the right time to invest in a Fellowes shredder for your business. Why is it so important to shred documents during tax time? The answer lies in a few unpleasant statistics.

Identity Theft costs businesses an estimated $50 billion annually. Additionally, Identity Theft affects millions of Americans each year - every 3 seconds there is a new victim. Also, dumpster diving for paper documents, certain types of electronic devices, and a lack of formal security policies within businesses present criminals with the right opportunity to steal your information.

Use the Checklist Below to Reduce Your Risk Factor this Tax Season:

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