Discover Green Office Supplies and Ways to Turn Your Office Green

With the growing concerns over the environment it should be firmly set in everyone’s mind that we all need to do our bit to help save the planet. There are numerous things which can be done including reducing co2 emissions, recycling waste and using recycled products.

Here we discuss what can be done to make a greener office and ask you to think when you next purchase your office supplies, consider going ‘green’ and purchasing recycled office products?

Gone are the days when the only type of green office products you could find were recycled paper and envelopes. There are now plenty of 100% recycled office products to choose from as well as many more part-recycled products.

Within the 100% recycled range you can expect to find everything from paper, envelopes, Avery labels and post-it notes through to rulers, refill leads and various filing and storage folders.

The part-recycled range of office supplies is far more extensive and you can get a green replacement of virtually every type of office product you use on a regular basis. A few examples which I’m sure some people may never have expected to be available are listed here: staplers and staple removers, hole-punches, PVC lever-arch folders, pens and markers, CD/DVD casings and even cable ducting.

Another thing to consider is your printer consumables. Printer cartridges and toners can be easily recycled and a remanufactured replacement purchased. The quality of recycled cartridges has greatly improved.

Look out for the different logos on products which indicate whether a product has been certified green and most will include additional information about its green credentials. Labels can be found from the following organizations such as EU Eco-label, FSC, Maxima Green, Nordic Swan and Blue Angel.

And why not do your bit for the environment by having a recycling system installed at your workplace which will encourage you to separate your rubbish.

When you next think about buying disposable plates and bowls look out for some of the excellent bio-degradable options on the market. This does not mean sacrificing quality for flimsy paper plates because what you can now get are a strong rigid product made from plant fibre – they are even microwavable!

It’s not just office products. You may also wish to consider becoming more socially responsible by purchasing fair-trade goods which can be identified by the fair-trade logo. There is also an Ethical Tea Partnership which works in much the same way as the Fair-trade Foundation.

As well as buying green there are also some little things you can do in the office which will help save the environment and you money! Switch off lights and unused office equipment, buy energy saving light-bulbs, encourage colleagues not to print emails and documents unless necessary.

So go on – buy ‘Green’ when your current office supplies expire and do your bit to help save the planet!