Purchasing office paper used to be a relatively straightforward task for the majority of small businesses & everyday consumers. Increasingly however it's becoming much more challenging and we are met with an enormous range of choices.
This is even more true for the environmentally-minded purchaser who wants to purchase recycled copy paper and has to evaluate the eco benefits relating to each ream. It's not always clear to people what "recycled content" signifies and what the most eco-friendly types of recycled content are.
As a result, I have come up with a brief list detailing two of the most important green attributes related to recycled printer paper and various other goods. Here are the things you should consider when you are making your purchase:
1) Recycled Content - This is without doubt one of the most important factors to take into account. Anytime you are purchasing office paper, pencils, file folders, etc you should really look to see just how much recycled content is in the product. Is it 20% or is it 100%? Normally, products with greater levels of recycled content will be a bit pricier, but if you are a smart buyer or if you buy in bulk you can still get really great deals on products with substantial levels of recycled material.
2) Post-Consumer Recycled Content - There are 2 main types of recycled material: post-consumer & pre consumer. Post-consumer recycled content lets you know that the content was used and discarded (or put in a recycling bin) by an end consumer (e.g., you or me) not a business. Pre-consumer recycled content means that the material used to make the product could have just been thrown away during the production process (e.g., paper trimmings while cutting the paper into 8.5" X 11" sheets). Post-consumer material is regarded as having a larger environmental benefit than pre-consumer material because post-consumer waste is more likely to end up in a landfill when it isn't recycled.
To say it a different way, manufacturers will try and reuse all their factory floor paper trimmings because they want to save money; they're then going to recycle the rest because they have a monetary incentive to do so; end consumers, however, are far more likely to throw away copy paper that they have already used. Thus by purchasing products with large levels of post-consumer content you are increasing incentives for cities to operate effective curbside recycling services and in the end providing more incentives for consumers to recycle.
Lastly a product which is simply tagged as having a specific percentage of "recycled content" (without stating whether it is pre-consumer or post-consumer) is simply saying that they either don't know if the recycled material is post or pre consumer or that the product has been made from a combination of pre-consumer & post-consumer content and they do not know what the mix is.
The most eco-friendly option is to go with a type of recycled copy paper that is made of 100% recycled content and ideally a very high percent (e.g., 70%, 90%, or 100%) of post-consumer recycled content. - 42629
This is even more true for the environmentally-minded purchaser who wants to purchase recycled copy paper and has to evaluate the eco benefits relating to each ream. It's not always clear to people what "recycled content" signifies and what the most eco-friendly types of recycled content are.
As a result, I have come up with a brief list detailing two of the most important green attributes related to recycled printer paper and various other goods. Here are the things you should consider when you are making your purchase:
1) Recycled Content - This is without doubt one of the most important factors to take into account. Anytime you are purchasing office paper, pencils, file folders, etc you should really look to see just how much recycled content is in the product. Is it 20% or is it 100%? Normally, products with greater levels of recycled content will be a bit pricier, but if you are a smart buyer or if you buy in bulk you can still get really great deals on products with substantial levels of recycled material.
2) Post-Consumer Recycled Content - There are 2 main types of recycled material: post-consumer & pre consumer. Post-consumer recycled content lets you know that the content was used and discarded (or put in a recycling bin) by an end consumer (e.g., you or me) not a business. Pre-consumer recycled content means that the material used to make the product could have just been thrown away during the production process (e.g., paper trimmings while cutting the paper into 8.5" X 11" sheets). Post-consumer material is regarded as having a larger environmental benefit than pre-consumer material because post-consumer waste is more likely to end up in a landfill when it isn't recycled.
To say it a different way, manufacturers will try and reuse all their factory floor paper trimmings because they want to save money; they're then going to recycle the rest because they have a monetary incentive to do so; end consumers, however, are far more likely to throw away copy paper that they have already used. Thus by purchasing products with large levels of post-consumer content you are increasing incentives for cities to operate effective curbside recycling services and in the end providing more incentives for consumers to recycle.
Lastly a product which is simply tagged as having a specific percentage of "recycled content" (without stating whether it is pre-consumer or post-consumer) is simply saying that they either don't know if the recycled material is post or pre consumer or that the product has been made from a combination of pre-consumer & post-consumer content and they do not know what the mix is.
The most eco-friendly option is to go with a type of recycled copy paper that is made of 100% recycled content and ideally a very high percent (e.g., 70%, 90%, or 100%) of post-consumer recycled content. - 42629
About the Author:
Increase your understanding of post-consumer recycled content, compostable cups & packaging, recycling methods, and new approaches to composting, like the naturemill composter and the orca machine.
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