Rethinking the way your team buys and uses paper helps the team as well as the environment. Using less paper helps trim the bottom line, while a recycling and eco-friendly paper procurement program can generate positive publicity for the Padres.

Follow the tips below to reduce your team’s office paper use, and visit NRDC’s Paper Project for more detailed information and tools to help reduce office paper use.

Also consider joining the EPA’s free WasteWise program, which provides members with several benefits, including a technical assistance team that will help your team to conduct a waste audit and reduce waste.

For a useful discussion of waste reduction, see EPA’s Business Guide for Reducing Solid Waste

A typical office disposes of about 350 pounds of wastepaper per employee per year. Identifying ways to reduce paper use can save money.

In 2005, the EPA Region 10 offices (in the Northwest U.S.) made a concerted effort to reduce paper use. Through a variety of initiatives including default double-sided printing and collection of scrap paper for reuse, the office reduced paper consumption by 30%, yielding an annual savings of $49,000. Case Study

In 1994, Bank of America partnered with EPA’s WasteWise program and began implementing programs to reduce paper use. By encouraging double-sided printing in offices, switching to a centralized distribution system of company procedure manuals, and switching to double-sided printing on customer banking statements, they were able to save the bank over $1million annually in avoided costs. Case Study Later, by reducing the basis weight of its ATM receipts from 20 pounds to 15 pounds, Bank of America saved more than just paper; this simple move also gained the bank additional savings in transportation, storage and handling costs of approximately $500,000 a year.

Sample Memo Re: Developing a Smart Paper Plan

Get senior management on board with your team’s plan to rethink paper use in the office.

Use this questionnaire to assess current practices in your office and find out where there's room to improve.

Start off with simple paper reduction strategies like these. Edit the spreadsheet and add your own strategies to create a customized plan for your office.

NRDC's New York eco-committee created these signs to help our New York office follow the new guidelines.

NRDC worked with a major printing company to develop these guidelines, which it now uses as procurement guidelines.

Use this form to find out if your supplier is providing your team with environmentally friendly paper.

• Subject to your club’s email policies, use email instead of paper or faxes whenever practical -- for internal memos as well as communications with clients and customers.
• Don’t print emails. Put the words “save a tree, don’t print me” at the bottom of all emails.
• Print less: keep mailing lists current, and don't overprint copies or outside print jobs.
• Reuse what you can. Stock your fax machine with paper already printed on one side; reuse oversize envelopes and boxes; use one-sided "draft" paper in your printers.

• As printers and copiers need to be replaced, purchase units that can print on both sides of a sheet of paper. Then set all computers and copiers to default to double-sided printing.
• Save and collect 8.5 by 11 inch paper that's been printed on one side, restack it neatly, designate a paper drawer on each printer (or as many printers as practical), and use it to print drafts.
• Adjust the house style on word processing programs to use a slightly smaller font and slightly wider margins; use the electronic "edit" and "comment" features to work on drafts instead of printing.

• Cut down on the number of periodical subscriptions you buy. Survey to see who subscribes to what, then work out a sharing system.
• Reduce the amount of unwanted mail your team receives. The National Waste Prevention Coalition provides a postcard to send to mailers to have your name removed from lists, http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/nwpc/bizjunkmail8.htm. (See more resources and suggestions on curbing business junk mail at http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc/bizjunkmail.htm.)

• Stock the kitchen with real mugs, plates, bowls and utensils to discourage the use of paper and plastic disposables. Consider cloth napkins or use paper towels with high postconsumer recycled content.
• Encourage employees who carry in lunches to use reusable bags and napkins. Consider providing sponsor-branded bags for employees to use.

NRDC Paper Project
Shopper’s Guide to Home Tissue Products
Environmental Paper Network
Minnesota Guide to Source Reduction
EPA – Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines
National Recycling Coalition – Growing a Buy-Recycled Program: A Manager’s Guide
A Common Vision for Transforming the Paper Industry
Environmental Benefits and Cost Savings Calculator for Purchasers
WasteWise – How to Start or Expand a Recycling Program