Waste Reduction

Tips - Reduce, Reuse, and $ave! Picture of office desk with computer

Computer

  • Desktop Calendar/Scheduler
  • Desktop faxing
  • Electronic billing
  • Electronic reference materials
  • Digital
    • Archives
    • Reference manuals
    • Technical documents
    • Legal manuals
    • dictionaries

On-Line

  • E-mail
  • Web posting
  • Message Routing
  • Bulletin boards/ list serves
  • Web news
  • Phone directories

Equipment

  • Shared printers/scanners/copiers
  • Set equipment default settings to double-siding
  • Draft printer (stocked with reused, one-sided paper)
  • Reconditioned printer cartridges
  • Office products reuse closet
  • Leased/upgradable office products
  • Planned donation of office products
  • Durable/reusable purchasing policy

Mail Room

  • Internal routing slips
  • Interoffice envelopes
  • Contract with suppliers to consolidate shipments
  • Returnable/resuable shipping containers
  • Ask customers if products can be held until entire order can be shipped at the same time
  • Colllect one-sided scrap paper and distribute as draft printer paper
  • Return address stamp

Personal Behavior

  • Durable coffee mug
  • Reusable routing slips
  • Reformat forms and letters to fit multiples to a page
  • Shared publications/subscriptions
  • Remove name from junk-fax, junk-mail lists, and unwanted publications
  • Make scratch pads from one-sided paper
  • Use deskside recycling

 

A Decision Point

For this example your task is to purchase a year's supply of paper for your company AND to trim your overall budget. Your company has the option to purchase paper at full price ($4.00 per ream) or at a discounted rate ($3.50 per ream when purchasing 1,000 reams or more). Last year your company purchased 1,000 reams. Of the following, which strategy will you suggest to your boss:

Strategy

#
Paper
Reams

Total
Purchase
Price

Transport,
Storage,
Handling

Disposal

Total
Cost of
Strategy

Saving
Over
Previous
Year

A) Disposal
Buy same as last year to get discounted rate. Use the existing disposal system

1,000
@
$3.50
per
ream

$3,500
$310
@
$.31
per
ream
$160
@
$.16
per
ream
$3,970
$0

B) Recycle
Buy same as last year to get discounted rate and implement recycle program that captures 50% of the paper

1,000
@
$3.50
per
ream

$3,500
$310
@
$.31
per
ream
$80
@
$.16
per
ream
$3,890
$80

C) Reduce
Buy half as last year (pay full price) and implement a reduce, reuse, and recycle program that cuts paper useage by 50% and captures 50% for recycling

500
@
$4.50
per
ream

$2,000
$155
@
$.31
per
ream
$40
@
$.16
per
ream
$2,195
$1,775