Going Green from the Inside Out

Changing habits around the office can seem like a daunting task. Where do you start? Here are some details about how we developed green practices at Grand + Benedicts. First, we organized a Green Team and invited volunteers from each department of the company. From there, we took a look at the waste we were producing internally. The first major waste area we discovered: paper.

Tracing the Paper Trail
The Green Team set a goal to reduce paper waste by 30 percent. We discovered that people just weren’t thinking about how much paper they were using on a daily basis – printing emails, printing entire documents instead of the page they needed, printing handouts for meetings, single-sided copies etc. So we initiated five systems:

1. Paper Reduction Training & Awareness
A general lack of awareness seemed to be a major cause of our paper waste. From researching our current areas of waste, we developed guidelines and each Green Team member was tasked with training a group of employees in reducing paper waste.

View our Guidelines

2. “Make It a Double” System Printing on both sides of the paper sounded like a no-brainer. But getting everyone to do it was more difficult. Many small laser printers don’t print on both sides. At the same time, many employees were unaware how to set the copy machine to produce double-sided copies. To overcome this, we posted instructions and educated employees to print double-sided. Still, we needed to find a use for all paper printed on only one side.

We implemented Second-Chance Paper Collection Boxes around the office.

3. Second-Chance Collection Boxes The solution to all single-sided copies was Second-Chance-Paper collection boxes to give all paper a “second chance”. Creating well-labeled collection boxes for paper printed on one side made a huge difference. Then, we figured out how to work Second-Chance Paper into the paper stream. Loading Second-Chance Paper in our fax, copy machine and printers put the paper into second service right away. We asked employees to use the Second-Chance Paper for all informal and internal documents. Designating certain paper trays as “Second-Chance” helped avoid confusion. To make the program successful we instructed people to add only paper free of staples and stack it cleanly in the box.

Copy paper with 35% Post-Concumer Recycled Content

4. Smart Purchasing Buying recycled paper goes a long way to reducing our environmental footprint. To ensure we are making the greenest purchasing decisions, we put a sustainable purchasing policy in place. Whenever possible, we go with paper products like copy paper, envelopes, marketing collateral, toilet paper, paper towels etc. that contain the highest amount of post-consumer recycled content. What’s the difference? Recycled paper means the paper is a bi-product in the paper factory (trimmings, etc.). Post-consumer recycled content is paper that has been reused after being out in the consumer stream. By using post-consumer recycled content, we minimize waste.

View our Recycling Policy

5. Expanding the Recycling Another thing we are tackling is recycling. We recycle everything that's recyclable from tin cans, plastic food containers, old batteries, scrap metal and wood. We also recycle styrofoam and fluorescent light bulbs, which require special pick-up services. We reuse all reusable cardboard boxes and packaging peanuts. To make recycling easily accessible to everyone, we position clearly labeled recycling bins by the garbage cans. At the same time, we educate our employees about what can be recycled and where to take it. To keep our efforts moving forward over the long term, we formed a recycling policy and ongoing training to make sure recycling is continued.