You may not know this but the U.S. alone consumes enough office paper to build a wall 10 feet high and 6,815 miles long. With the recent trend of “going green” becoming more popular, many businesses are jumping on the wagon. Not only is this change warranted, it is needed. There are many large corporations as well as small businesses that are lending their skills to this need. Many companies such as Microsoft’s Sharepoint tool are offering ways to cut back on paper consumption. They are able to do this by offering ways to make “paper work” all electronic. Not only does this process help the environment but it also increases security, and revenue. Sharepoint helps your company to control the publishing of documents, routing, and commerce. This process is done by converting these documents into e-files. Doing this greatly reduces the cost of printing, which in turn helps the environment. These statistics will put things in perspective. According to conservatree, one tree makes 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets. One ream (500 sheets) uses up 6% of tree.

Paper isn’t the only area in which companies, and individuals are doing their part to go green. Many companies are offering recycled materials to do their part in helping the cause. New technologies are always on the rise to help improve this effort. Here at shoplet.com we are doing our part in going green by offering our “Green Your Office Tool”. We offer everything from furniture to stationary. So if you are feeling in the mood to help the planet, hop on the wagon and begin turning your office into a green one.

Bookmark This !

We had a blast picking our 10 favorite comments today! If you won, you should have a received an email from me. If you didn’t receive an email, don’t worry we’ll make your comment worth your time. Don’t forget to check our blog periodically for the next contest and thank you to everyone for entering!

Bookmark This !

Yeah yeah duct tape is really great, but when the Duct Tape isn’t there, what do you reach for? And sometimes you go for Scotch tape first when you are nervous about damaging the item you are taping up. (Especially skin!) I was thrilled to find the book Transparent Tape: Over 350 Super, Simple and Surprising Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought of by Vicki Lansky. You can buy it Here

1. Served as an anti-corrosive shield on the Goodyear blimp.
2. Covered cracks in the soft shells of fertilized pigeon and turkey eggs – which then hatched!
3. Attached labels to horses to be auctioned.
4. In Bangkok, Thailand, repaired cracks in the ceiling of tenants’ apartments. (This use reported by a particularly thrifty landlord.)
5. Bound chicken’s legs together when being weighed.
6. Repaired airplane rudders. A 1946 Taylorcraft airplane was disabled after cows ate the resin-coated fabric on the plane’s rudder section. The plane’s owner taped the remaining fabric over the hole-ridden section and flew away.
7. Bound flashlight to underside of gun barrel when hunting barnyard pests at night.
8. Picks up tiny splinters of broken glass. Wrap tape sticky side out around a pad of paper towels.
9. Seals garbage bags when out of twist ties.
10. Temporarily mends cracks in credit cards.
11. Removes dog hair and lint. Wrap several turns of tape around the hand sticky-side out.
12. Mends the ends of frayed shoelaces so they can be laced through the shoelace holes.
13. Keeps extra batteries on hand when you need them most. Tape batteries on back of wall clock and have handy when the clock stops running.
14. Stops runs on snagged pantyhose.
15. Prevents scratches on polished tabletops by covering the bottoms of ashtrays and knickknacks.
16. Patches tiny holes in window screens to help keep out insects.
17. Protects labels on lipstick and cosmetics so you can purchase the same shade again.
18. Keeps overstuffed envelopes sealed.
19. Helps remove the adhesive residue left on glass from a price sticker by using a piece of tape to lift it off.
20. Mends broken toys.
21. Repairs torn pages in books.
22. Secures small bundles of fresh herbs to a cutting board when chopping.
23. Patches small wallpaper tears and blends in with design of paper.
24. Mends torn sheet music.
25. Holds holly sprigs and other adornments to holiday packages.
26. Mends rips in window shades.
27. Keeps track of screws or nails during household repairs. Simply place them on a piece of tape so they won’t get lost mid-project.
28. Protects labels on prescription medicines.
29. Prevents unwanted temperature changes in the home during winter and summer months when placed over thermostat gauge.
30. Repairs spectacle frames temporarily.
31. Covers and protects the signature on back of credit cards.
32. Holds window glass together until it’s replaced.
33. Helps keep broken pieces of china together while glue is drying.
34. Prevents chipping of plaster walls when pictures are hung. Before driving a nail into a wall, apply tape to desired spot.
35. Patches worn road maps.
36. Displays first aid instructions inside medicine cabinet.
37. Mends a small tear in the ring hole of a shower curtain liner.
38. Fastens wrapping paper to gifts and attaches bows and other embellishments.
39. Prevents smearing of addresses on packages being mailed.
40. Identifies stains on soiled clothing before dropping off at the dry cleaners.
41.Reinforces the corners of children’s board games and puzzle boxes so they last longer.
42. Attaches recipes clipped from magazines onto index cards.
43. Helps keep track of dishes that are used for potluck dinners. Simply place a piece of tape over an address label and place on bottom of dish.
44. Covers seed markers in the garden to keep them legible all summer long.
45. Attaches climbing plants and flowers to trellises.
46. Makes protective cones out of old newspapers to protect plants from sudden cold snaps in early spring
47. Helps straighten crimped or bent stems. Attach small splits to stems with tape. If stem is lightweight, reinforce it with tape alone.
48. Helps to arrange cut flowers. Use strips of tape to create a grid pattern on the vase opening and place flowers in between the pieces of tape.
49. Reseals unused seed in original packet. Write purchase date on tape.
50. Labels potted plant seedlings and cuttings.
51. Mends torn office records, papers, money and checks.
52. Secures documents from slipping on the copy machine when making multiple copies.
53. Edges important papers which are subject to repeated handling and wear.
54. Protects and mounts often-used lists or price schedules for easy access.
55. Repairs worn book bindings, frayed sample folders and plastic machine covers.
56. Repairs corners of stationery boxes.
57. Repairs broken pens or other small pieces of desk equipment.
58. Double-seals confidential letters and paycheck envelopes.
59. Makes addresses smudge proof for prompt, accurate delivery.
60. Reinforces file folders.
61. Prevents snags on office furniture. Place transparent tape across rough spots on a desktop or side of file cabinet.
62. Secures book covers.
63. Holds together construction paper villages, costumes and masks created in conjunction with history lessons.
64. Secures newspapers to tables or desks during painting and other arts and crafts activities. Remove for instant cleanup.
65. Saves important papers in notebooks. If the hole tears, simply tape over the hole and repunch a new one and place back into the binder.
66. Attaches pictures in scrapbook for use as a study aide.
67.Connects construction paper loops to make a friendship bracelet bearing classmate’s names to send to a sick friend.
68. Creates bookmarks for reading. Place tape strips over an old greeting card or favorite picture.
69. Mends rips and tears in schoolbooks.
70. Prolongs the use of crayons. Wrap pieces of tape around the middle of a crayon to provide added strength.
71. Helps to put in zippers. Baste the seam closed, press open, tape the zipper face down along the basted seam on the wrong side of the fabric (tape holds zipper flat). Sew on the machine. Remove tape and basting.
72. Enables easy altering of patterns. You can mark right over it.
73. Holds rickrack, decorative braid and other trimmings in place while they’re being sewn. There’s no pin bulge to cause ripples or distort stitching.
74. Marks hem lengths on skirts. Use snips of tape.
75. Keeps the sewing basket tidy. Fasten ends of thread or rickrack to spools or index cards.

Wow that was long. So, what have you used it for?

Share your favorite uses below!

Bookmark This !

[Thanks to Adam Kinney for this great visual]

The marketing team at Shoplet received a whiteboard last month for scheduling! Great right? It came with a special marker and advised you only use that special marker.  Sadly to say I decided that one color was not enough. One of my co-workers gave me a pack of bright, colorful dry-erase markers and I wrote our schedule in lots of nice colors. It looked great until it came time to change the schedule. Oops.

A ghosted whiteboard does not look professional and it gets more and more annoying as time goes on. My solution was to switch from the colored markers to a nice black quartet dry erase marker which was readable over the colored ghosts. But then I learned a little trick from one of our product experts. You color over the ghosts with a dry erase marker! Weird right? Color over the ghost with a dark dry erase marker, let it sit for a few seconds then erase! Maybe this is old news to everyone but it worked like a charm for me.

You can read about some other de-ghosting solutions on Wikihow They suggest Hairspray, Toothpaste, Hand Sanitizer, Lava Soap, Old Dryer Sheets, etc etc etc Sounds like anything besides a dry eraser or the solution that comes with it works.

Anyways, enough with that.  Once you get your board nice and clean, ruin it with some of this:

[Beautiful artwork done by islandarc on Flickr]

Now that you’re inspired, join this group: Dry Erase Yer’ Face. They have some really cool artwork too.

Artwork done by Toniluca!

Now go get rid of all your ghosts and start drawing!

[and we’d love to see your artwork! Post it and comment with a link below!]

Bookmark This !

This morning I found the site of a soap that is getting a lot of talk right now. New Soap, Old Bottle. I read a few opinions about this new product and it seems to be pretty widely endorsed. One comment I read explained that if nothing else this should inspire us to reuse our soda bottles for cleaning liquids. I agree with that comment except for the fact that you, as a consumer, would still have to buy a giant bottle of Windex to refill your little soda bottle. The difference with New Soap, Old Bottle is that they buy the soap buy the barrel. I’m not sure what the barrel looks like (and I’d love to hear what NSOB would say about it!) but I assume that it is something recyclable and they make sure to recycle whatever it comes in.

So in my personal opinion it’s better to buy these products rather than make your own (unless you drink tons of soda and have lots of bottles lying around.) Plus, at only $4.99 for shipping you could stock up and still be paying less than you’d pay at your local grocery store.  What do you think? Is it a smart, environmentally conscious solution? Do you have any tips about staying environmentally conscious when you’re cleaning? Share them below!

Bookmark This !