Back to School: Earth Edition

As we all know, "back to school" season is upon us, which usually means making a trip to the office supply store to buy new school materials. This year, why not make better choices for the planet when you stock up on supplies? This guide will outline a few positive changes you can make when buying new supplies for your office, home, or school, as well as how to minimize your environmental impact with the products you already own!

Printers

In today's society, we often rely heavily on our home printers for school or work purposes, and as a result, many of us use multiple sets of ink cartridges per year. However, this usage takes its toll on the environment. Most ink and laser printer cartridges contain both volatile organic compounds (VOC) and heavy metals to some degree. Both of these types of compounds can leach into soils and waterways when cartridges are thrown out. This is dangerous, because they are contaminants that can cause heavy metal or VOC poisoning in humans and animals, and have other widespread environmental impacts. These post-disposal impacts don't even include the environmental impact of making and discarding each of the plastic cartridges themselves. There is a way to break the cycle of running through countless cartridges. Consider investing in a cartridge-free printer, such as the Epson EcoTank. It features non-disposable ink tanks that can be refilled with a large bottle of ink. This method greatly reduces the amount of plastic that is produced for cartridges, as well as the amount of ink that is leached into the earth from disposed products.

Paper Products

Everyone knows the old saying: reduce, reuse, recycle. It can't hurt to keep this in mind when considering buying paper products, but we can take it a step further. Search for paper products that are either made from recycled materials, or are FSC certified (ideally both!). Using recycled paper (and recycling your used paper) helps save precious primary forest from deforestation, and also reduces the amount of resources, such as fossil fuels, that go into harvesting those forests. It also helps us reduce CO2 emissions, and sink more atmospheric carbon because there are more trees! Try to search for paper that contains a percentage of post-consumer material that is as close to 100% as possible! The FSC, or Forest Stewardship Council is an international organization that sets standards for forest products to promote responsible management of the world's forests. Different FSC product labels can certify whether a paper product comes from responsibly managed forest or is made from recycled content. Make sure you learn the labels and keep your eye out for them!

Pens

Consider how many cheap, disposable, pens you have used in your lifetime. Now consider that almost every single one of them has ended up in a landfill. All of these pens can be replaced with a single, durable pen with a refillable ink cartridge. There are lots of pens on the market that can be refilled, including ones that are responsibly made, and made of recycled or compostable materials (ex. bamboo pen). If you do have disposable pens already at home or work, try and reduce their environmental impact as much as possible! Use them all until they are empty, and then dispose of them at an office-supply recycling campaign near you (office supply stores, like Staples often provide these services).

Tape

Our typical clear plastic adhesive tape is a staple in many homes, schools, and offices. Although it seems small and insignificant, the widespread usage of tape contributes to a lot of waste every year. It is estimated that 6 million rolls of tape are purchased and used by Canadians each year during the holiday season alone. There is a better way! The next time you run out of tape, consider buying a paper-based or biodegradable product, such as this recyclable packing tape, or this masking tape made with recycled resources.

Binders

These days, many filing containers and binders are not able to withstand much wear and tear. The frequent replacement of plastic binders leads to a wasteful production and disposal cycle. Instead, try out this 100% recycled chipboard binder that is durable and made of recycled materials. At the end of its life, the binder is compostable, and the metal rings are recyclable. Also consider these recycled tab dividers to complete your organization!

If you are interested in even more eco-friendly school and office supply options, check out this comprehensive list of options from the Eco Warrior Princess blog!