Office Supplies Blog

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.

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

In the past, we’ve reported on several ways to help conserve energy – buying equipment with the Energy Star logo, shutting off equipment when not in use, and adjusting lights & thermostats accordingly in unused areas are all important and easy steps you can take to lower expenses. However, there are also broader programs you should consider.

Recycling Can Reduce Waste in Your Bottom Line
Did you know that there may be a market for your recyclables? It depends on your type of business and the kind of scrap materials or refuses your business produces. However, even if you can’t receive cash for your trash, it makes good sense to recycle. To create an effective program, try following these simple rules of thumb:

Read the rest of this entry »

Corporate social responsibility is an ever growing task for companies, and with today’s “green“ movement, this concept takes on a whole new dynamic. No longer is it a passing grade for a company to just make a donation or attend a fund raising event for the environment. Companies must now do their part and take direct affirmative actions to support the “green” movement as part of their daily operations. That being said, if you, as a business owner, have not instituted a “green” policy in your office, here are a few tips and resources to help you get started.

• The obvious – make every effort to purchase and utilize recycled and/or eco-friendly office products and consumables.
• Eliminate Styrofoam cups from amenity areas – convert to paper cups, and preferably ones made from recycled paper.
• Provide personalized glasses and mugs for each employee, and have extras for guests.
• Provide a simple statement on your e-mail footer such as “Think Before You Print.”
• Install appliances in kitchens and pantry areas that have high “Energy-Star” ratings.
• Install energy saving light bulbs and fixtures.
• Have employees turn off computers and other electronic devices before leaving each day, and especially before leaving for the weekend.
• Install motion sensors in conference rooms and public areas so that people do not have to remember to shut off the lights.

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that packaging constitutes as much as one-third of the non-industrial waste stream, which is why 28 countries have laws designed to minimize that waste? Unfortunately, the U.S. is not among them, according to www.idealbite.com.

To ship your holidays gifts the smart way, consider these tips that will help reduce what ends up in our landfills:

1. 1. Instead of throwing away the shreds you get when using a paper shredder, use them to fill packages you send in the mail. It doesn’t cost anything, it can be recycled and it’s an environmentally safer product than Styrofoam.
2. 2. Save cash by reusing. Boxes can cost a few bucks each. Avoid buying new ones by reusing the ones sent to you.
3. 3. If you don’t have old boxes to reuse, insist on mailing boxes that use 10% to 30% recycled paper.
4. 4. Ship early to avoid shipping by air. Energy costs for sending a package for next day delivery are four times higher than the cost of ground shipping.
5. 5. Lighter means more energy-efficient (and cheaper), so make sure you’re using the right size box for the job.
6. 6. Consider using cornstarch packing peanuts. They are made from corn starch and dissolve in water leaving no toxic waste. Organic fill is static free, economical, fast and easy to use. Place them outside and they will either disappear when the birds take them to make their nests or they will melt in the next rainstorm.
7. 7. Use recycled plastic bubble wrap to cushion the contents of your package.
8. 8. Reuse plastic shopping bags or shredded newspaper and pack it around breakables.
9. 9. Try gummed paper tape made from recycled Kraft paper.
10. 10. Visit Earth911.com to find a recycling center near you. Simply enter the name of the item you want to recycle and your zip code to find a recycling center nearby that will accept your packaging materials, such as packing peanuts. Most UPS Stores will gladly accept packing peanuts as well if you find your home or office is being consumed by them.
11. 11. For holiday packing materials, try dry pine cones and air-popped popcorn. They’re virtually free, festive and can be fed to the birds or put in the back yard after use.

Discount Office Supplies | Recycled Office Products | Paper Shredder | 3 Ring Binders | Mailing Supplies

Even though offices have moved into the electronic age, the use of paper is not slowing. That’s why it’s more important than ever to help the environment by recycling and buying products made with recycled materials.

It is a common myth that recycling is critical because it saves trees. Because of tree farming and forest management, there are more trees now than 70 years ago. The real problem is the country’s landfills, which are nearing capacity at an alarming rate. That is why Smead is taking an active role to help reduce landfill waste.

Fifty years ago, Smead led the way as one of the industry pioneers by introducing post consumer material into all their paper products. Today, all Smead products contain at least 10% post consumer material and over 20 products are made from 100% recycled content. By using post consumer waste, it prevents wastepaper from arriving in landfills. Wastepaper accounts for 85% of all recycled materials.

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Environmentally friendly office supplies

• Recycled Printer Supplies & Accessories
• Recycled Paper
• Recycled Envelopes
• Recycled Binders
• See all products

You may be buying organic food products at home or tossing your milk carton into a recycling bit, but are you as environmentally conscious when you’re at the office? Probably not.

It seems that there is usually a divide between our lifestyles at home and how we live on the job. While you may be committed to a healthy lifestyle at home that is good for you and the earth, we must remember to carry over this commitment at the workplace, too.

In an attempt to reduce the amount of paper being printed and, therefore, the number of trees being harvested to make paper, consider using environmentally friendly products, office supplies, recycled copy paper, recycled envelopes, refurbished used printers, and remanufactured toner cartridges.

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