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.

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!

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!

[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!]

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!

(more…)

This morning my breakfast consisted of a handful of marshmallow mateys and a candy bar. After that candy bar (which I ate ridiculously fast) I was ready for more. Then I remembered, yes we do sell candy on Shoplet.com. It was at this time I wished I worked at one of the warehouses. The candy section must look like that right? Ok maybe not. But hopefully they at least have pinatas at their morning meetings.

Maybe it’s a little more, well a lot more sanitary and organized. Just in case I just hit your sweet tooth with that picture, get some candy for the candy jar at work. Everyone is just a little bit happier when they get to have a break to eat a laffy taffy or a handful of M&Ms. Spread some love with sugar. Here’s my faves:

Laffy Taffy’s (and yes you have to read all the jokes. Even if you have heard them before)

Sour Patch Kids They come in little packs. Don’t eat to many or your tongue will hurt.

M&Ms A classic. Eat some and then hide them otherwise you’ll eat the whole bag.

Starburst Mmm don’t let everyone eat all the red & pink first. Make them take a yellow too.

Gummy Bears

Wonka Mixups. I don’t love bottle caps but I could eat Nerds all day.

Twizzlers (I prefer Red Vines, but it’s a good second best)

Butterscotch Candies A great work environment candy. Classy but delicious

What looks like a Halloween Grab Bag. Yum!!

And if you feel like you are lacking in entertainment, grab a glass candy jar

fill it up and glue the lid down.  Head over to RetardZone for the full deal.

We had a Shoplet debate the other day about the difference between Post and Pre Consumer Recycled Content. We thought we might as well  group all of our products that contain any recycled content all together. Then the question came up, well what’s the difference? Does it matter which they used?

Here’s our most intelligible answer:

Waste, either a material or a product that can be divided into two categories:

Pre-consumer waste and Post-consumer waste.

Pre-consumer waste is a material that was discarded before it was ready for consumer use. Pre-consumer waste is the reintroduction of manufacturing scrap (such as trimmings from paper production, defective aluminum cans, etc.) back into the manufacturing process. Pre-consumer waste is commonly used in manufacturing industries, and is often not considered recycling in the traditional sense.

Post-consumer waste is material discarded after someone uses it. Post-consumer waste has served its intended purpose, passed through the hands of a final consumer, and has been discarded for disposal or recovery. Quite commonly, it is simply the garbage that individuals routinely discard, either in the trash can or a dump, or by littering, incinerating, or pouring down the drain. In the case of paper, pre-consumer waste would be that which was printed but never used. Such as newspapers that were never bought by a consumer. Post-consumer waste in this example would be the newspaper that was bought and read and then discarded.

So there you have it. Do you know more on this subject? We’d love to hear about it! Comment below!

All you have to do is comment on this blog post and tell us why you LOVE the Energizer Bunny® in 20 words or less. 

Oh and don’t forget to be creative and really sell it. We’ll be reading all of them and picking our favorite ones! Please please keep it clean and family friendly. We don’t welcome any comments that are offensive or scandalous in any way.

Sample Admissions:

“I LOVE the energizer bunny because of this commercial!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxafIhYFOr0 And because he’s pink”

“I played in the marching band in highschool and I love his drum”

“I saw him at the Macy’s Day Parade and he looked rockin!”

“When I wake up I remember him and tell myself to get going!”

You get the point.  Make sure when you comment to use an email address you actually check (not energizerbunniesarehot@fakemail.com) because we actually want to give you a bunny. Contest Winners must be located in the contiguous 48 states, Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.

We’ll be reading all your comments until Tuesday, June 30 and picking the winners on Wednesday, July 1!

(And if you all the sudden remembered that you’re out of batteries, stock up on Energizer Batteries at Shoplet.com!)

Please send any questions, comments, feedback to marketing at shoplet dot com. Please note Shoplet reserves the right to amend, modify and/or withdraw this promotion/campaign at anytime.

I came across this little blog called Career Fashion Blog which gives women tips on how to dress in the workplace. Sometimes I’m probably a little too opinionated on what is in style and what is really not (probably way too opinionated actually.) Instead of going with my opinion, I want to hear what you guys think. And by guys I mean girls and actually guys too- because we all know women just want to look nice for guys. I’m sure there are many other work fashion articles out there, even whole websites dedicated to this topic but today we are focusing in on the suggestions made on our friend Career Fashion Blog. Here goes..

Accessorizing Suits with Scarves

I’ve always avoided suits of any kind. Pant Suits, suit jackets, etc. So suites with scarves…ehh..yeah it could be a good idea if you’re going for this look:

Besides wearing them with suits, scarves are just really in right now. The whole “indie” or “hipster” scene loves the scarves, especially this one below.

But let’s keep it a little more classy. As the site says “We could show our appreciation for spring by accessorizing our work outfits with colorful pretty scarves.” I always like appreciating spring, summer, and all those colorful times of the year. “Adding a scarf can make a work outfit look less bare, and more put together.” What do you think?

T Shirts With a Work Outfit?

My first reaction is uhh No. But then I remembered all these “t-shirts” my mom had in her closet that weren’t actually t-shirts to me. They were shaped like t shirts but they were made out of silk and glittery stuff. She seemed to wear them under suits and tucked into pants. I like the advice Career Fashion gives. The potential work shirt should be made out of Silky or Flowy Materials and possibly have some design details.

That way you get this

instead of this:

How to Make Jeans Work For Work Clothes

Welll..I don’t know about this. I mean we all have casual fridays for jeans but can you pull off the dressy jean look? All of the real estate guys at my school always sported the dress shirts, jeans, and dress shoes. But for girls? I’ve seen girls in jeans and heels..and it can be cute? I like both of these outfits below..

But sorry Oprah, I don’t love this for work that much

This one is definitely a toss up for me. For most jobs, I think jeans are always a no, no matter how dressy them are. Career Fashion suggests “It all depends on what you wear WITH those jeans, rather than the jeans themselves. Here is a look that makes jeans work very well - wear the jeans with a crisp white blouse, a black suit jacket and a classic pearl necklace.” I think I will support that.

Sarah Palin In Red Power Suit

What are your thoughts on monochrome pant or skirt suits? I first saw this picture of Sarah Palin and thought oooh probably not for the all red. But then I found this lovely yellow pantsuit (not sure if it’s great for work though.)

So what do you think?

Is it bold to wear all one color in a suit form? Does it give you more power?

Edgy Pointy Toe Business Shoes

This is another one where I am on the fence. I can appreciate a small point on a shoe. I don’t personally wear them myself because I refuse to wear anything that makes my feet hurt or tempts me to kick someone when they make me mad. But really pointy shoes like these?

Career Fashion says “Add some pizzazz to your business suit with edgy shoes. Don’t be shy. Be original. Seek out some shoes with some flash, and wear them with your professional attire. These animal pointy toe shoes will make your work outfit anything but boring…Some days we have to wear some spice.”

Definite No’s for me:

Accessorizing with Leopard

I’m not against all animal prints or even leopard!! Just these accessories maybe.

Definite Yes for me:

A Good White Blouse

Every girl needs a good white blouse they can throw on under anything. Wear with a skirt, under a sweater or dress. This is the one they’re selling on the Career Fashion Blog:

Not really my thing, but if you want one- buy it HERE

This is one I suggest from J Crew

Buy it HERE.

So now I want your opinion. What to do you think? To recap:
Scarves. Good for work?
Are T Shirts professional enough?
Can you dress up jeans?
Are pointy toed shoes still in?
And monochrome suits..are they too much or just really cool.

And if there are any specific lady fashions you don’t particularly enjoy.. well tell us about them in a nice way below.