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Use eco-friendly office supplies

Why This is Green

Offices don’t tread lightly on the environment. Think of a conventional, cubicle-filled setting and all of the paper, computers, phones, printers, pens, pencils, and lighting involved. Imagine the resources and electricity needed to keep it all running.

While there are broad changes that can be implemented in any office to reduce this impact—minimizing electricity use, purchasing only the greenest electronics, instituting a recycling program—smaller changes are important, too. Buying eco-friendlier and recycled office supplies can help.

Most of us have a sense of why virgin paper has such a heavy impact—the harvested trees, the manufacture, the bleaching and dying, and eventually the staggering amount of paper that never gets recycled at the end of its useful life—adding more waste to our already overstuffed landfills. But have you ever considered what you’re writing with? By some estimates, more than 14 billion pencils are produced every year—many made from wood from ancient forests. Add to that the billions of pens, highlighters, crayons, and markers used in offices--and never recycled. That’s a lot of resources.

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How To

Ask your office manager to switch to greener supplies, including recycled content notebooks and printer paper. These are widely available. Form a green committee to advise if need be.

Add reusable plates to the office kitchen—or at least paper plates and napkins containing recycled content.

Pens and pencils made from recycled materials can be purchased. There are also pencils manufactured from FSC-certified wood. Some pens only require refills rather than entirely new pens when they run out.