In the past I’ve written about how you can save money by reducing the amount of paper you use and the 7 basics of green procurement (which includes defining office supplies standards). Now, let’s talk about basic office supplies that are great, green and cheap.

It’s easier to buy green office products than ever before. The three largest office supply retailers, Staples, Office Depot and Office Max each carry thousands of reasonably priced products with recycled content and other environmental attributes.

Some even innovate. Take Office Max, they were one of the first national retailers to carry TerraCycle products and they now sell a range of their products from notebooks made from used potato chip bags to juice pouch pencil cases.

There are also a number of green office suppliers online such as Green Line Paper.com, TheGreenOffice.com or Green Apple School Supply that offer thousands of eco-friendly products. And green promotional item companies like John Simonetta’s ProformaGreen.com and EcoPromotionsOnline.com are also good places to find green office supplies.

I found ten awesome green office supply products under $10 because no matter how small every single purchase has an impact on the environment. Whether you’re buying copy paper or forklifts, that purchasing decision is an environmental decision. So, if you want to start with some small stuff, basic office supplies are a great place to start.  Here are my favorite cheap, green office supplies:

#1. on my list is reasonably priced private-label recycled content copy paper from office supply retailers. A scan of websites today (July 2, 2009) revealed the following prices for a 10 ream case (5,000 sheets) of 30% PCW 20 lb. 8.5″ x 11′ copy paper:

Office Depot: $3.30/ream (for a limited time until stock lasts; regularly $4.00/ream)

Office Max: $4.00/ream

Staples: $4.10/ream

2. & 3. The TerraCycle E-Waste Recycling Can is made from 100% e-waste (such as crushed computers and fax machines) that would otherwise have ended up in landfills. It comes in both blue and green, holds 28 quarts and costs $9.99 (www.officemax.com).  For a more funky and slightly smaller version, the TerraCycle 12″ Urban Art Recycled Trash Bin (its that groovy one above) also costs $9.99 (ShopOnlyGreen.com).

Here’s an idea that comes from outside the green business world, but has much to offer us and I think should be repeated all over.

In London, KiosKiosk is a simple, powerful, powerfully fun idea: Create an attractive temporary space for upcoming (but ready to sell) businesses to be at, in a high traffic area. At no cost.

Backed by the London Sustainable Development Commission, businesses just need to submit a brief form describing what they’d like to use the kiosk for, [...]

Another post inspired by a HARO request.  This time it was an ask for low or no-cost tools used by small businesses.  I did a quick search for the word “free” in my book and realized there are dozens.  Here are my 19 favorites:

1. Free energy-efficiency information, resources, and technical advice—ENERGY STAR for Small Business provides free information, resources, and technical advice on hundreds of cost-savings practices. Includes a downloadable copy of the free ENERGY STAR for Small Business Guide, “Putting Energy into Profits” and information about ENERGY STAR–labeled products.
2. Free recycling and conservation signs—You can customize, download, and print free recycling and conservation signs at recyclereminders.com.
3. Free control of your IT—If you run a network, software from companies like LocalCooling.com allows the settings on computers to be controlled centrally so you can automatically turn those babies off when no one is using them.
4. Free Green IT for Dummies—HP sponsors a free, downloadable, condensed, limited edition of the Green IT for Dummies guide.
5. Free recycling bins—The Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program provides recycling bins to selected grant recipients for the collection of beverage container recyclables in public settings.
6. Free rideshare widget for websites— at GooseNetworks.com.

Why bother improving energy efficiency? We know we should, but how do you articulate why? Of course, if there is an ROI case to be made then the analysis is easy. But really, it seems to beg a larger issue. Is there a reason beyond ROI?

Whatever the industry, managing costs is good for business, and increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy costs does just that. Given rising energy prices and a growing awareness of the importance of energy conservation, a carefully conceived energy management strategy may well be one of the most important steps a business can take to sustain and grow business.

Furthermore, research by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors suggests that companies with a clear energy management strategy have a competitive advantage. Companies that lead in energy management achieved superior stock and financial performance over “laggards.” They even achieved significant financial premiums in stock prices over competitors. This from the National Environmental Education Foundation:

Companies have been engaging in energy-efficiency strategies for years as a means to control costs. Increasingly, a body of evidence suggests that companies that take a systematic and strategic approach to energy management can enjoy a broad array of tangible and intangible benefits of interest to investors. As financial analysts and institutional investors come to understand this energy-value connection, energy management is becoming another measure by which they assess companies.

A question on a LinkedIn hotel group was asked the other day: How does your housekeeping team encourage guests to recycle? Do you place separate bins in the guest rooms for paper, glass etc.? How can you do this while maintaining a 4 and 5 diamond look? And it made me think about what advice to give about getting buy-in for recycling programs. In this case, from both staff and consumers.

It seems to me that the topic of how to effectively implement recycling programs is essentially the same regardless of business size. At its most basic, there are three components to implementing a successful recycling program:  

1. Make it easy.
2. Communicate the expectation of recycling.
3. Communicate the how and why of the program to employees.

Starting with making it easy, it may seem self-evident, making recycling easy for patrons and staff is the number one action you can take to facilitate a recycling program.You can do this by providing clearly marked containers throughout the room and locating them in places where people need them, such as near sinks, kitchens and minibars. As to the issue of matching the aesthetics of the facility, as long as the recycling bins are just as aesthetically pleasing as your existing trash cans (or hidden in cabinets) I do not see how they detract from the ambiance. That brings me to the second point.

Last night Keilly Witman from EPA’s GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, the program that attempts to get grocery stores to reduce ozone-killing refrigerant leaks, talked at EcoTuesday in DC. What I thought might not be our most exciting topic turned out to be one of the most interesting I’ve heard in the 8 months of co-hosting these events.

Ozone-depleting refrigerants are also potent greenhouse gases. One pound of the most commonly used HFC refrigerants has the same impact as about 4000 lbs of CO2. This is why Witman calls the reduction of refrigerant leaks the low-hanging-fruit of emissions control. There are 35,000 supermarkets in the US and each typically carries about 4000 lbs of refrigerant and leaks about 25% of that.  So, you do the math: 1000 lbs of high global warming gas from each of 35,000 supermarkets = 35,000,000 lbs leaked each year.  And its pretty simple and cheap to cut that number in half, which is where most GreenChill partner markets come in.

According to a 2008 GreenChill press release:

Compared to the rest of the supermarket industry, GreenChill partners are already emitting fewer ozone-depleting refrigerants and greenhouse gases than their competitors, and saving money at the same time. The partners’ savings in operating costs equal almost $13 million.

If every supermarket in the nation joined GreenChill and reduced their emissions to the current GreenChill average, the industry could prevent the release of 13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and 157 ozone-depleting potential tons annually.

GreenChill has about 30 supermarket partners.  Let’s start applying the Big Green Purse principle and ask: Is your market a Greenchill partner or should you shop elsewhere?

Clint Eastwood’s iconic Dirty Harry character uttered “A man’s got to know his limitations” but can say the same thing about the Green progress of a company? In the case of the smaller and less capitalized Lake Tahoe ski resort Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort we looked at skied, snowboarded, walked, and peeked around at what Green goings on here at this resort. Like all ski reports they should be concerned about their carbon footprint and global warming because with no snow they have no business.

Sierra, unlike some of the larger resorts like Heavenly, don’t have as much capital to spend on LEED certified buildings, high output photovoltaic systems or biodiesal powered snow-cats but then again they have a smaller footprint in terms of actual buildings (LEED or otherwise) or the amount of high energy snow making machines.

These days it seems everybody has some sort of recycled/eco friendly paper offering. So what’s the big deal about a Swedish offering making it’s US debut on Earth Day this year?

White Lines factory reuses their carbon emissions in a closed loop, making for zero CO2 emissions, for one. Then they offset what they can’t reuse (transportation, etc) via planting trees in Africa, as coordinated by environmental consultancy U&W (interestingly pronounced “You & We” in Swedish) The wood used for the [...]

Ever wonder why people forget to turn off the lights on their way out of a room? Maybe a simple sign is all they need. 

Studies have shown that people significantly increase their recycling behavior when signs are present. So, posting signs around your workplace reminding everyone to conserve and recycle is one of the most effective and inexpensive green practices you can implement.

In-workplace signs are a valuable way to reinforce your commitment to your green practices and an excellent way to get people to stick with internal programs. If there’s a green aisle in your retail store, post a sign. If you’re starting a carpooling program, post a sign—and a ride-share sign-up—on your office bulletin board.

Here are the three keys to posting effective reminders:

1. Include a specific request (i.e. turn off lights on your way out).
2. Place signs in close proximity to the area in which people are expected to respond.
3. Request actions that are convenient for the end user.

Last week BusinessWeek published an article: 10 Ways To Cut Business Costs and I was pleased to see that four of the 10 were also green.

It gave me the idea to write about green ways to cut costs in these difficult times. Starting with the four cited in BW, here are some ideas:

Reduce energy use. Energy is the number one expense for almost one-third of small businesses, and whatever your industry, increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy costs is good for business. ENERGY STAR for Small Business has free information, resources and technical advice on hundreds of energy and cost-savings practices.

Telecommute. Telecommuting is often cited as one of the most valuable benefits to both employers and employees. Telecommuting has been credited with improving work/family balance, supervisor-staff relationships, job satisfaction, worker retention, productivity and career prospects, as well as reducing stress, absenteeism, recruiting, office space and parking costs. It may also be one of the most effective greening practices you can embrace: The American Consumer Institute projects that telecommuting alone will cut CO2 emissions by more than a half million tons over the next decade.  Best Work Places has great tools for implementing telecommuting and other commuter benefits program.

Curb travel expenses. Airplane travel, lodging and rental cars can consume almost one-quarter of a business’ carbon footprint and as much as 3% of its revenue. So, reducing the number of business trips you take is an excellent strategy for greening and reducing expenses. (A friend who is an senior exec at a global liquor company told me it cost them $12,000 every time they sent her overseas.) Taking fewer, longer trips is one solution. Web conferencing is another. Its a win for productivity, expense reduction and the environment because not traveling means not having to postpone regular office work, saving the expenses of travel and eliminating the carbon output from that travel.

1. Jill, you are an artist, designer and crafter. Tell us about what you do and what you create.

First and foremost I create detailed native nature drawings. With these, I create an eponymous line of paper goods and fabric accessories. I’ve been an “indie-craftpreneur” since 2001, selling my goods on my retail website and in boutiques worldwide. I also create murals, take on custom art commissions, and the occasional graphic design project for like-minded businesses.