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Environmental and Health Issues and Recommendations  Prevents Waste:
Preventing waste can conserve natural resources and save landfill space. You prevent waste when you:
- Reduce the amount of material you buy to accomplish any task;
- Reuse a product; or
- Use repairable, refillable, or more durable products.
 Recycled Content:
Many office supplies, especially those made from paper, metal, or plastic are available with recycled content. Look for products that contain postconsumer material, which is finished material that has completed its life cycle as a consumer item, and would have been disposed of as a solid waste, but is instead diverted from landfill disposal and recycled or reused. Purchasing recycled-content products that are made with postconsumer material directly supports the recycling programs of local jurisdictions.
Compared to manufacturing with virgin materials, making products with recycled materials typically requires less energy; emits lower levels of climate-changing gases; and produces less pollution. [1]  Less Hazardous:
Buying paper that is bleached without chlorine or chlorine compounds reduces pollution. [2]  Indoor Air Quality (IAQ):
Look for products that emit zero or low amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOC). VOCs often have an odor, and sources of VOCs include correction fluids, carbonless copy paper, adhesives, and permanent markers. Low-VOC versions of many of these products are readily available. [3]
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Before you purchase a product, consider the task that you wish to accomplish with the product. Do you really need to make a purchase? Have you looked for used supplies in your office? Can the task be accomplished in a less expensive and less resource-intensive manner? For example, documents can be emailed and made available via Web sites, thus eliminating associated costs of envelopes, paper, and postage.
When you purchase new supplies, look for those with environmentally preferable attributes.
WHAT ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE OFFICE SUPPLIES ARE AVAILABLE?
Used Supplies
Many office supplies such as folders, desk accessories, envelopes, packaging material, mailing supplies, archive boxes, binders, floppy disks, etc. can be reused. Consider creating an office supplies reuse center, and remember to advertise its existence. It can be as small as a cabinet or as large as a storage room. The California Integrated Waste Management Board provides tips and posters (See the Office Trading Post poster and others.) related to reuse in the office.
New Supplies
Some of these environmental attributes may be found in environmentally preferable products, depending on the product:
- Durability
- Recycled content
- Low or zero air emissions and hazardous substances
- Water efficiency
- Easy, non-hazardous maintenance
- End-of-life management that keeps materials out of landfills (e.g., reuse, recycling, return to manufacturers)
- Energy efficiency
- Low life cycle cost
California State agencies should look for products that meet or exceed the minimum recycled content requirements of the State Agency Buy Recycled Campaign (SABRC), and should ask their suppliers to provide purchase reports that provide the information needed for SABRC tracking and reporting.
A wide variety of new environmentally preferable office supplies are available, including:
- Archive boxes - postconsumer recycled content
- Binders - postconsumer recycled content
- Bubble wrap - postconsumer recycled content
- Calculators - solar powered
- Calendars - postconsumer recycled content
- Clipboards - postconsumer recycled content
- Compact disk cases - new disks in reused cases
- Continuous feed computer paper - postconsumer recycled content
- Copier paper - postconsumer recycled content; processed chlorine free; alternative fiber
- Correction fluid - low odor; water-based
- Daily planners - postconsumer recycled content
- Desk accessories - postconsumer recycled content
- Envelopes and mailers - postconsumer recycled content
- File folders - postconsumer recycled content
- Floppy disks - reformatted for reuse
- Glue sticks - low or no odor
- Hanging folders - postconsumer recycled content
- Highlighters - low or no odor
- Index cards - postconsumer recycled content
- Mailing tubes - postconsumer recycled content
- Markers - low or no odor
- Message pads/books - postconsumer recycled content
- Notebooks/pads - postconsumer recycled content
- Paper clips - postconsumer recycled content
- Pencils - refillable; recycled content
- Pens - refillable
- Portfolios - postconsumer recycled content
- Repositionable notes - postconsumer recycled content
- Ruled paper - postconsumer recycled content
- Rulers - postconsumer recycled content
- Scissors - postconsumer recycled content
- Sheet protectors - recycled content
- Stationery - postconsumer recycled content; processed chlorine free; alternative fiber
- Toner and inkjet cartridges - remanufactured
- Transparency film - recycled content
PURCHASING RESOURCES
Statewide Contract, Small Businesses and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises
Numerous environmentally preferable office supplies are available through the mandatory Statewide office supplies contract with Office Depot, Inc. (Contract #1S-06-75-55). The use of this contract is mandatory for all State departments except when they purchase from a certified California Small Business (SB) or certified California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) or in cases of emergency.
Other
California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB)
The CIWMB's Recycled-Content Product Directory contains thousands of listings of recycled-content products from thousands of suppliers.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
The USEPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) Supplier Database is a searchable database of vendors who sell or distribute CPG-designated products with recycled content. The USEPA also maintains a Database of Environmental Information for Products and Services.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING THE STATEWIDE OFFICE SUPPLIES CONTRACT?
The Statewide office supplies contract with Office Depot, Inc. (Contract #1S-06-75-55) offers streamlined and efficient methods of acquiring office supplies at substantial savings.
HOW CAN I BUY PRODUCTS FROM THE STATEWIDE OFFICE SUPPLIES CONTRACT?
Detailed contract user instructions are available on the Department of General Services Procurement Division's Web site.
Local agencies may use State procurement contracts.
[1] United States Environmental Protection Agency. Frequently Asked Questions about Recycling and Waste Management. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/faq.htm.
[2] Conservatree. Environmentally Sound Paper Overview: Essential Issues. Part III - Making Paper: Content. Available at: http://www.conservatree.org/learn/Essential%20Issues/EIPaperContent.shtml (See "Bleaching" section.).
[3] United States Environmental Protection Agency. Indoor Air Quality, Sources of Indoor Air Pollution - Organic Gases (Volatile Organic Compounds - VOCs). Available at: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html.
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