Durable, repairable or reusable, remanufactured, concentrated, unpackaged – these are the attributes of less wasteful products. A new free report from INFORM, Inc., “Waste at Work: Prevention Strategies for the Bottom Line”, brings together simple, yet significant strategies for reducing waste at the workplace. It includes dozens of brief success stories that show how buying durable and reusable products can save millions of dollars in avoided replacement, disposal, and shipping costs. The appendices list products for office areas, shipping, food service, landscaping, and building, along with a model procurement policy.
The Alliance for Environmental Innovation recently published two reports on business use of paper. The first, “Greening Catalogs” examines ways catalog companies can reduce environmental impacts of paper use. The second, “Leading By Example: How Businesses are Expanding the Market for Environmentally Preferable Paper,” describes changes five major U.S. companies have made in how they buy and use paper, benefiting the environment and their business.
– McDonald’s: eliminated 27,000 tons of packaging material, saving over $12 million over 7 years. The company uses recycled paper in half its food packaging.
– United Parcel Service: its 2-way envelope cuts the amount of packaging material the company uses in HALF per shipment. Increased postconsumer recycled content to almost 80%.
– Bank of America: replaced 60% of its printed forms and paper by using electronic communication and print-on-demand. 75% of the paper used is recycled; averaging 20% postconsumer.
– Ben & Jerry’s: uses unbleached ice cream containers, eliminating pollution associated with pulp bleaching.
– Time Inc.: switched paper suppliers to minimum impact pulp and paper mills. The company imports, for example, totally chlorine-free paper from Sweden.
When the Independent Press Association – which represents mostly progressive magazines and community newspapers – found its members were using 24,000 tons of paper each year, with fewer than 20 percent using paper with significant recycled content, they formed the IPA Paper Co-operative. It started this summer in San Francisco and plans to go nation-wide, offering its members chorine-free, high postconsumer waste, tree-free and certified paper. For a copy of the report, “Pulp Non-Fiction: How Progressive Publishers Damage the Environment and What We Can Do About It,” contact Anita.
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