When it comes to more eco-responsible office stationery and supplies, there are companies who are well ahead of the curve, working on weird and wonderful innovations in production and manufacturing.
Stationery is being 3D printed with sugar cane filaments, plastic pen casings are being made using recycled water bottles and things like vegetable and soy inks are slowly but surely becoming more accessible.
However, while the evolution of business supplies and stationery continues to build up momentum, there are plenty of small changes you could be doing right now to make your stock cupboard more sustainable.
You don’t need to spend lots of money or make any drastic changes to your regular purchase orders. All you need to do is analyse what you’re currently using and then do some research to find out if there are any environmentally-friendly alternatives.
In this blog post, we offer some useful advice on how you can make quick and easy adjustments to your regular routine and repertoire of supplies…
Make sure your paper has been sourced sustainably
Although the balance is undoubtedly swinging more towards the digital way of doing things these days, it is crucial that modern workplaces facilitate both virtual and analogue creativity. Some people still prefer to scribble ideas on a pad with a pen, or print documents out to read and these employees need to be catered for.
Many offices are making efforts to reduce paper consumption but paper is still a crucial resource in workplaces of today – so, you might as well make sure it’s a more eco-responsible option. Most brands of copier and printer paper, notebooks and pads now offer a recycled alternative so it’s the perfect time to make the swap.
Reuse and recycle boxes and packaging
You may have noticed that our packaging has been here before…
Our parcel bags are now made using 100% recycled material but are also 100% recyclable. Many companies are now making the transition into similar materials so that their packaging – just like ours – can be reused or recycled time and time again.
Print double-sided and black & white
This may seem like a rather obvious suggestion but something as simple as changing your printer settings to ensure you’re always printing on both sides of a sheet can contribute massively. Printing in greyscale unless colour is absolutely necessary is also a great way to make everyday processes more eco-conscious.
Have you thought about MPS?
Another great way to lower your paper and ink consumption is to consider implementing a Managed Print Solution (MPS). According to research, 17% of all printed sheets go unused – using something like MPS to control your printing habits will significantly help to reduce wastage.
Cork noticeboards
Cork is a trend that comes back in and out of fashion within the world of commercial interior design, purely for it’s undone and modern aesthetic. Cork products also have the potential to be extremely eco-savvy alternatives to other more synthetic materials on the market.
So, for this reason, we recommend opting for things like cork noticeboards if you’re looking to make your business supplies more sustainable.
Swap pens for pencils where possible
Statistics from plasticfree.co.uk estimate that there is more than 45,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of ocean and that the UK is responsible for around 5 million tonnes of the world’s annual plastic wastage.
In our blog post on the simple ways to reduce plastic use in the workplace, we suggest swapping plastic biros for refillable pens or pencils where possible. We do understand, however, that disposable biros are a staple in many offices so just try switching to something more sustainable like the Bic Ecolutions ball point made from recycled materials.