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Office Supply Services, Inc

The Green Office Project

Green Office

 

Welcome to the Green Office Project!

Office Supply Services is pleased to announce our effort to help you and your office be more earth friendly! Throughout the course of the year we will be presenting news, information and earth friendly products to you and your office environments. The OSS Journal, our monthly e-mail newsletter, will feature information to help you be more earth friendly and help educate you on simple things that you can do to be more energy conscious and help preserve our natural resources. You can sign up for the monthly e-Newsletter by entering your email address in the sign-up box located in the left column of this page. Be certain to bookmark this page and visit us often and feel free to send your tips and information to us anytime.

Thank you for being a part of our Green Office Project!

Green Office Products

OSS is please to introduce our New Greener Office Products Catalog, the catalog of environmentally friendly office products!

Green Catalog 2009

The Greener Office Products Catalog is one more tool in an effort to becoming environmentally conscious at work.  The New Greener Catalogs offers great selection and competitive pricing with more than 2,500 SKUs on more than 130 pages that are environmentally focused.  Products are offered on categories such as office products, furniture, technology, janitorial and maintenance products and much more!

Contact your sales rep or call our office today and ask for your copy of the New Greener Office Products Catalog and start making a difference!

NEW!

Need some help making your business greener? Print our comprehensive guide complete with worksheet on How to Green Your Business. Get it here... (Acrobat Reader Required)

 

Did You Know?

Recycling Matters

Aluminum

Paper

Plastic

Glass

 

GreenWorks Logo

Green Works™ Overview
Clorox is leveraging its world-class expertise in the household cleaning category to develop a new platform of natural cleaning products called Green Works. These products are made with natural, plant-based ingredients and clean as well as conventional cleaners on most soils. Green Works products are a practical way for consumers to live a greener lifestyle without compromising performance.

All Green Works natural cleaners are made using plant-based ingredients derived from coconuts, as well as essential oils. The products are formulated using biodegradable ingredients, are packaged in bottles that can be recycled and not tested on animals.

Green Works Natural Dishwashing Liquid, Natural All-Purpose Cleaner, Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner, Natural Glass Cleaner, Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner and Natural Dilutable Cleaner products have been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for using environmentally preferable chemistry, and carry the EPA’s “Design for Environment” certification logo.

Greenworks Products

Green Works™ Natural Dishwashing Liquid cuts through tough messes like greasy cooked-on and baked-on food. It is safe on a variety of cooking and eating surfaces, including plastic, stainless steel, copper, aluminum, glass and porcelain. Green Works™ Natural Dishwashing Liquid is available in five scents: Original, Water Lily, Tangerine, Free & Clear and Simply Lemon.

Green Works™ Natural All-Purpose Cleaner works on grease, grime, dirt, soils and messes, and is safe on multiple surfaces throughout the kitchen and bathroom including counters, appliances, stainless steel, sealed granite, chrome, cooktop hoods, sinks and toilets.

Green Works™ Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner cuts through filmy residue, and is safe on multiple surfaces throughout the kitchen and bathroom including glass, mirrors, appliances and stainless steel.

Green Works™ Natural Glass Cleaner cuts through filmy residue, and is safe on glass surfaces. 

Green Works™ Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner removes rust, mineral deposits, and hard water, and is safe for plumbing and septic systems.

Green Works™ Natural Dilutable Cleaner works on grease, grime, and dirt, and is safe on multiple surfaces throughout the kitchen and bathroom including non-wood floors, counters, sinks, stoves, garbage cans and toilets.

Green Works™ Natural Bathroom Cleaner works on tough stains like soap scum, hard water, and rust, and is safe on multiple bathroom surfaces, including counters, sinks, tubs, tiles and shower doors.

 

 

 

Recycle Logo

The Road to a Green Friendly Office Begins with You

 

Environmentally responsible products are critical in our efforts to create a sustainable planet for generations to come

 

Seven Billion People and Counting

 

Paper & Paper Packaging

 

Sustainability

 

Millions of Invested Dollars Not Required

 

Over 1,800 Recycled Products Available

 

The Road to Going Green Can Save You Even More

 

Use Remanufactured Toners

 

Recognize that everyone can contribute

 

Your Independent Office Dealer Can Help!

 

The Road is Clearly Open

So what is your next step?

Green Office

 

Here are some tips to get you started making your office earth friendly.

Use paper efficiently. Make two-sided (duplex) copies when printing or copying. Print documents only when needed and in the quantities required to help prevent waste and save energy.

Recycled used paper. Install collection bins for paper. Use recycled paper when possible.

Look for the Energy Star symbol. Upgrading old products to newer more efficient models that have the Energy Star symbol will save energy. Newer model printers may print faster, use less energy and have lower a cost per page saving you time and money.

Use Remanufactured Toner Cartridges and return used cartridges for recycling. The average laser toner cartridge requires 4 quarts of petroleum to manufacture just the plastic outer casing. Recycling and using recycled cartridges saves not just energy but valuable land fill space. Purchasing recycled toner cartridges can also save you as much as 50% of the cost of the original equipment manufacturers product. OSS offers free prepaid return boxes/envelopes for your toner cartridges! Call for yours today.

Replace stand alone machines with multifunction systems. Evaluate your work requirements. A copier, two printers and a fax machine consume as much as 1070kWh of energy each year. But if one multifunction machine can handle the workload it will use only about 800kWh annually. The average multifunction machine saves as much as 30% of the energy used by the equipment it replaces. If your old equipment isn't Energy Star compliant then those savings could be doubled!

Electronic document storage and sending capabilities are underused. Consider promoting the utilization of electronic storage systems to replace your hard copy documents. Many documents produced can be stored and easily shared electronically using scanning features and software built into the newer machines on the market today. By using e-mail to send documents instead of a fax machine you save toll charges and additional paper usage. Most companies now prefer to receive their documentation via e-mail and statements, invoices and most other forms of office communications can be done via e-mail.

 

How Many Trees Does it Take to Make Copy Paper?

According to Conservatree, a respected national authority on recycled paper, estimates are that 24 trees 40 feet in height and 6-8 inches in diameter are saved for every ton of 100% post consumer paper used instead of virgin fiber paper.

The “groundwood” process for making paper is used for low cost paper such as newsprint and many catalogs and this process is about twice as efficient as “kraft” process produced papers used for higher quality needs such as copier and fine writing papers and coated magazines and offset papers used in the printing industry.  Using that information we can calculate that it would require 24 trees to make one ton of office paper.  A pallet of copier paper consists of 40 cartons therefore, it took 24 trees to create that pallet of copier paper.  Or, one tree will make 16.67 reams of copy paper or 8,333.3 sheets or further still 1 carton (5000 sheets, 10 reams) of virgin paper uses about 6% of a single tree.

Therefore, one ton (40 cartons) of 30% post consumer content copier paper saves 7.2 trees and one ton of 50% post consumer content paper saves 12 trees.

Buy paper products made with clean, safe processes.


Paper products are bleached to make them whiter and brighter, but chlorine used in many bleaching processes contributes to the formation of harmful chemicals that wind up in our air and water and are highly toxic to people and fish. Look for products labeled totally chlorine-free (TCF) or processed chlorine-free (PCF). In some cases, elemental chlorine-free (ECF) may be acceptable.

Recycled paper only represents between 7-9% of the printing and writing paper market.  This means that new trees must be continuously harvested to support our paper consumption.  In fact, according to the Worldwatch Institute, 42% of the world’s industrial wood harvest is used to make paper.  The U.S. EPA states that paper and paperboard represents 38.1% by weight of the total municipal solid waste stream.  When you recycle paper it doesn’t go into the landfills or incinerators.

 

Computers & Recycling


It requires over 1.8 tons of natural materials to manufacture one desktop computer.  Forty tons of copper ore and 15 tons of gold ore need to be mined and refined to make one ton of computer equipment.  Circuit boards and connectors are made of copper, gold and other precious materials.  Over 260 million computers are manufactured each year which means over 450 million tons of earth is stripped away unless we learn to recycle more.  According to the U.N. the manufacturing of one computer requires 529 lbs of fossil fuels, 48.5 lbs. of chemicals and 3,306 gallons of water.

Lighting


Compact fluorescent bulbs will become the standard thanks to new legislation recently passed.  The incandescent bulb was invented 125 years ago and uses 90% of its energy producing heat and only 10% producing light.  Beginning in 2012 the new energy law goes into effect effectively banning the 100 watt incandescent bulb, followed by the 75 watt bulb in 2013 and the 40-60 watt bulbs in 2014.  Some specialty bulbs are excluded from the energy bill.

 

 

Ways to save money, save energy, reduce pollution, & reduce waste in the office

Easy steps to take

Steps that take planning, a little money

Steps that take a larger investment

Turn lights down/off when rooms and spaces are not used

Install motion sensors, timed heat/cooling monitors

Add daylighting, install efficient fixtures and wired or wireless computer controls for lighting, heating, cooling.

Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent or halogen bulbs

Install more efficient task lighting in workspaces

Replace fixtures in rooms with more efficient units, using LEDs, tube fluorescent lights, etc.

Turn computers OFF when not in use

Install software to shut computers down after 10-15 minutes at rest

Replace CRT monitors with flat screens; shut computers down automatically when unused for 15 - 25 minutes

Heat to lower temperatures in winter (67-70 F) –– allow staff to dress appropriately for this with insulated shoes, boots, lap blankets, jackets

If dress codes or uniforms are important, buy warm jackets, lap blankets, et cetera, for staff to use during heating season

Use added insulation, better quality windows, in-floor radiant heat or in-ground heat pumps to reduce energy needed to heat buildings

Cool to higher temperatures (72-75 F) in summer, also allow staff to dress appropriately for warmer temperatures

Install fans or allow personal fans to move air, open windows where appropriate

Use in-ground heat pumps, to reduce energy needed to cool buildings; consider building or growing seasonal shade with trees, screens, awnings

Recycle the easy stuff: paper, beverage containers, plastics, glass, cardboard

Recycle the hard stuff: electronic equipment, fluorescent lights

Work to reduce the need to print and store hard copies, store as digital docs on appropriate media instead.

Use safe cleaning compounds

Buy in bulk and dispense as needed; review with janitorial staff regularly

 

Encourage local purchasing instead of using geographically-remote but easy-to-access vendors

 

Use only local sources for goods and services; may take time to set up and cost more, but will help promote your local economy

Clean carpet spots when needed to prolong life; use walk-off mats at doors

Clean heavy traffic areas when needed instead of entire carpet. Walk-off mats should be 4 strides long.

Replace carpets with recycled and recyclable fibers, shift to squares from rolls so that heavy wear areas can be easily replaced

Maintain landscapes with organic compost, teas.

Mulch to conserve water, reduce weeds

Use water thrifty plants, divert stormwater to groundwater recharge instead of drains, or cisterns to provide dry season water.

Encourage staff to bike, walk, ride transit to work; encourage carpools; let highly efficient cars park closer to entry doors than low efficiency vehicles

Buy transit passes; rent electric or hybrid cars for work-related travel

Make showers and bike storage available
*Table source:Green Office

 

Natural Resources

Natural resources exist in to spheres:  (1) the biosphere, from which we harvest plant and animal life and consume fresh water and clean air, and (2) the lithosphere, from which we extract fossil fuels, minerals, and other raw materials.  Natural resources are generally considered either renewable or nonrenewable, depending on if and how fast they are regenerated by earth’s biological, geological, and chemical processes.  Renewable resources include forests, fisheries, and living soil while non-renewable resources include oil, iron, and gold.  The term “ecosystem service” refers to the ability of earth’s natural systems to generate such benefits as water supply, water purification, waste treatment and detoxification, regulation of air quality, regulation of regional and local climate, regulation of erosion, natural hazard protection, wild fisheries, spiritual fulfillment, and aesthetic enjoyment.  To the growing alarm of scientific observers worldwide, the exploits of human industry have begun to threaten nature’s capacity for resource renewal and the provision of ecosystem services.  Here are a few of their observations:

 

Purchase Guide
Conscientious consumption describes an ethic of purchasing that minimizes environmental degradation associated with the manufacture, use, and disposal of goods.  Conscientious consumers ask three questions when considering a purchase:

  1. Where does is come from?
  2. How is it used?
  3. Where will it end up?

The preservation of our natural resources and ecosystem services increasingly depends on decisions made by consumers.  Here are some ways to vote with your dollar for positive change:

 

Practical Intelligence
Preserving natural resources and ecosystem services will take the combined efforts of consumers, manufacturers, and governments.  The following best practices represent the most promising strategies for positive change:

 

 

WASTE 

Here are two links that may be of interest:

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/wstewise/wrr/prevent.htm

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/sourcred.htm

 

Waste is a human phenomena not found in nature.  In rainforests and deserts, prairies and wetlands what is abandoned by one life becomes food for the next.  Because the waste of our ancestors’ was minimal and entirely organic it was easily absorbed by nature’s sinks – the flora, fauna, and variations of earth’s crust and biosphere that drive the material lifecycles characterizing this planet.  In the last two hundred years, industrialization and the global scope of human activity have perpetuated an imbalance in this system.  In the last 35 years alone, the average person has gone from generating 2.7 to over 4.4 pounds of waste per day.  The things we abandon crowd our landfills and escape into ecosystems where they harm life and impair nature’s ability to provide us with the resources and services on which we rely.  Waste is also an indication of value being lost in a production process that fails to recapture the fiber, metal, timber, and other materials extracted at significant cost to investors, laborers, and the environment. Preventing waste is a way to restore the balance between nature and society, maximize our resources, and reevaluate the things we make and buy.

Purchase Guide
Because waste can be associated with many stages of a product’s lifecycle, its prevention can take many forms.  The first question is whether the product itself is a necessity.  Consider the underlying goal of your purchase.  Next, consider product qualities.  Look for products labeled by one of the growing number of third-parties helping consumers make better choices.  Also look for qualities reported by the manufacturer.  Whenever possible, choose products that contain post-consumer or post-industrial recycled content.  To prevent hazardous material from entering the waste stream, seek products that are non-toxic, acid-free, chlorine-free, or without volatile organic compounds (VOCs).  Packaging accounts for roughly one-third of municipal waste.  Though it is difficult to avoid, you can favor manufacturers who reduce packaging and use recycled and recyclable materials.  Though sometimes more expensive, durable products minimize waste and can pay for themselves by avoiding early replacement.  Finally, choose products that are recyclable or compostable.

 

Practical Intelligence
Consumers can prevent waste through a variety of relatively simple practices.  The three R’s are a familiar first step:  reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Also consider donating or exchanging items that are no longer needed.  Composting food scraps is a good way to avoid waste and funnel valuable organic matter to producers of fertilizer.  Whether in your office or home look for ways to conserve resources such as water, electricity, and heating fuels.  Install low-flow sink and shower heads, turn off lights and appliances, and minimize the use of heating and cooling through appropriate dress and ventilation. Manufacturers can have the greatest impact by designing products that use resources efficiently, eliminate hazardous substances, and can be dissembled for reuse, recycled, or composted.

 

Reduce & Reuse

Waste and pollution can occur at all stages of the product lifecycle:  in the manufacturing process, during use, and certainly when the product becomes obsolete.  Reducing consumption is the first step in preventing waste and pollution.  The obvious result is that fewer products are needed and therefore fewer products are produced, used, and disposed of in the first place.  American wealth and consumer culture has given rise to many unnecessary and frivolous products and often leads to wasteful practice.  In the workplace the tendency for overconsumption is often mitigated by budget constraints and an emphasis on efficiency.  Still, the discerning office user will find numerous opportunities to reduce material throughput, in particular the use of products that contain acid, toxins and other hazardous materials. 

Purchase Guide
Most people will find the terms “reduce”, "recycle" and “reuse” enough to enlighten the path of greener purchasing.  Treading deeper in to the issue it is important to point out that there is a fine line between needs and wants. Look for products with inherent durability, a reputation for lasting craftsmanship, the potential for multiple owners, or that can serve a secondary function after the primary usefulness is spent.  Also, seek products with reduced packaging and those that have traveled relatively few miles between the points of manufacturer and purchase.


Practical Intelligence
Reduction is more closely related to purchasing patterns, reuse is more directly associated with office practice.  Having made responsible purchasing decisions, the challenge is to see how long you can make your products last.  Obvious ways to reuse include using the back side of printed documents for scratch paper, re-labeling manila folders, and saving and reusing packaging materials such and envelopes, boxes, bubble-wrap, and Styrofoam fillers.

 

 

Conscientious Consumption

Purchasing decisions usually reconcile short-term costs with relatively short-term benefits for a given product.  A growing number of consumers are looking beyond these considerations to the impact their spending has on people and the planet around them.  The products we buy have a history and a future beyond their immediate use.  Conscientious consumption is an ethic that acknowledges the power of consumer activism in the movement towards sustainability.  When consumers neglect to consider where their products come from, how and by whom they are made, what they require and do when in use, and where they go when obsolete, manufacturers, in the absence of effective legislation, are effectively given permission to exploit people and the environment.

Purchase Guide
Conscientious consumption requires satisfactory answers to three simple questions:

 

 

Other measures of product sustainability are the percentage of post-consumer and industrial recycled content, whether the product is recyclable or compostable, and if the product was sourced under conditions of fair trade.

Buy products made with post-consumer recycled material


Practical Intelligence
Where the ideals of conscientious consumption meet the real world, the practitioner will find it is not usually the course of least resistance to go green.  Success in the transition to a more sustainable lifestyle takes trial, error, and persistence.  Here are a few tips:

 

  

Recycle & Compost

Until about thirty years ago most waste ended up in landfills or was burned in large incinerators.  This practice not only crowds landfills and pollutes soil, water, and air, but also represents the loss of great value.  As these drawbacks have become apparent, the wisdom of recycling caught the public imagination.  Today, around 10,000 curbside recycling programs serve roughly half of all Americans.  These, combined with drop-off and buy-back centers diverts an estimated 30% of the country’s solid waste stream.

Purchase Guide
Recycling is a loop that begins by diverting materials away from the waste stream and back into the manufacturing process.  The loop is closed when recycled materials in the form of new products are bought by consumers.  By seeking products that consist of recycled content, consumers send a message through the marketplace that there is growing demand for environmentally friendly products.  There are two kinds of recycled content found in products:  (1) post-industrial recycled content, and (2) post-consumer recycled content.  Industrial recycled content is waste material from the manufacturing process that is reincorporated into a new product or material.  Post-consumer recycled content is material that is recovered from end users, such as office paper or soda cans, and reprocessed for new use.  Today it is relatively easy to find office products that embody recycled paper, plastic, and steel.  More exotic materials are also being used such as shredded jeans in pencils and bicycle parts in furniture.  In general, look for the highest degree of post-consumer recycled content and then the overall percentage of recycled content with includes industrial material. 

 
Practical Intelligence
Today, a wide variety of products and materials are being recycled including automotive products, batteries, construction materials, electronics, glass, metal, organic matter, paint products, paper, and plastics. Familiarize yourself with the products that are easily recyclable in your area and make it easy for those in your office to get them into a recycle bin.  Also, keep an eye out for items that are more difficult to recycle, such as ink cartridges and batteries, and designate a staff member to take responsibility.

 

 

 

 

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