Resources - Looking for more information to help you green your office? Browse this list of articles and websites that educate businesses on how to implement green strategies.
Questions?
Some of the questions we receive the most have already been answered in our FAQ section. Take a look
Greening the workplace
10 Ways to Empower Your Employees to Go Green
A handy list of things your organization can do to create a positive environment for environmental change within the workplace. View the checklist.
Green meetings
A website of the Oceans Blue Foundation with information on hosting environmentally friendly meetings, conferences and other large-scale events. Learn more about green meetings
Greening your office checklist
Friogfile's list of everyday ways you can green your workplace. View the checklist
Greening the Workplace Program
The Environmental Youth Alliance's program is a "no cost" or "low cost" service designed to help small to medium size businesses reduce the environmental impact of their operations. Learn about this program
Environmental purchasing policies
Institutional Purchasing Program: Green Purchasing Policies
The Center for a New American Dream provides a list of purchasing policies by jurisdiction, product category, environmental attributes, and type of policy. View their policy list
City of Vancouver’s Ethical Purchasing Policy
The text of the first and only ethical purchasing policy adopted by a municipality in Canada. Read the policy (PDF)
Environmental Purchasing Policies 101: An Overview of Current Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policies
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the North American Green Purchasing Initiative reviews more than 80 environmental purchasing policies from across North America to identify the most relevant policy components. Includes a recommended purchasing policy that incorporates their findings. Read the article (PDF)
“Policy Updates Inspire Environmental Purchasing.” Government Procurement
Scot Case recommends successful strategies and policy elements to be included when developing or updating an environmental purchasing policy. Recommendations are based on a review of more than 80 purchasing policies within the USA. Read the article (PDF)
Seattle’s Sustainable Purchasing Policy
This resource includes information about this policy including its Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy, Buy-Recycled Program, Environmental Management Program, and Copernicus Project, which promotes analyzing and purchasing goods and services at ‘best total cost’. Learn more about the policy
Recycling
Recycled Content Products Database
The RCP Directory lists thousands of products containing recycled materials as well as information about the manufacturers, distributors and re-processors of these products. Browse the directory
Recycling Council of British Columbia
A useful source of information on programs and policy regarding product stewardship, zero waste policy, waste electronic equipment recovery, and many other recovery initiatives. Visit their site
Recycled Product Content Standards for Federal Agencies
The US Environmental Protection Agency provides a wealth of information on recycled products including product fact sheets and an extensive American supplier database for sourcing products. Visit their site
Tree-free and recycled paper products
Conservatree
The pre-eminent source of information on recycled papers. It is a comprehensive information source for what's really going on with recycled papers, as well as with tree-free and chlorine-free paper, including paper content specifications for different paper lines, how to source paper, and myths about recycled paper. Read more on their site
Fiber Futures
Fiber Futures is a private/non-profit project that promotes innovative tree-free and recycled products. They perform market research, refine business plans, sponsor product showcases, convene educational forums, identify potential sources of capital, and locate markets for new products. It's well worth looking at further
Markets Initiative
Markets Initiative works with Canadian companies to develop practical and economic ways to shift their wood and paper use away from ancient and endangered forest products to ecologically sound alternatives. Their site features a great deal of useful information.
ReThink Paper
ReThink Paper is a project of Earth Island Institute. The goal of ReThink Paper is to reduce the U.S. pulp and paper industry's consumption of virgin wood fibers through public education, reducing paper consumption, and promoting nonwood and recycled paper alternatives to wood-based, virgin paper. It's time to rethink paper
Certification
Certified Forest Products Council
This site introduces the concept of forest certification, provides information on the major certification programs around the world, and describes the markets for certified wood products. It's all here
Environmental Choice/Canada (EcoLogo)
Canada’s federal certification program to help consumers identify products and services that are less harmful to the environment. Environmental Choice has more than 1400 approved products, with 119 licensees and 29 guidelines under which companies may be licensed and their products certified. You can find out more here
FSC International
Information about the Forest Stewardship Council, the FSC certification process, certifiers, and certified products. The FSC standards represent the world’s strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes. They are here
Greenseal
This is an independent, US-based non-profit certification system for all product classes. It includes information on the product certification process and helpful fact sheets on recommended products. Find them at greenseal.org
Toner Cartridges
Questions and Answers about remanufactured toner cartridges
Thinking about switching to remanufactured toner cartridges? Check here for answers to the most common questions.