Eco-Friendly Office Supplies - 5 Simple Ways to Go Green at Work

It's a tradition to ring in the New Year by singing theharmful chemical linked to headaches, lightheadedness
popular New Year's Eve tune "Auld Lang Syne",and fuzzy thinking, and fill local landfills with
paying tribute to 'times gone by' and looking forward tonon-biodegradable waste.
new horizons. This year, whether you're still holding onNew: Refillable, non-toxic, recyclable dry-erase
to your New Year's resolutions or not, we thoughtmarkers. The AusPen dry-erase marker is made of
we'd look to the future, bid farewell to old,100% recycled aluminum, and is recyclable itself. Since
unsustainable office products and look ahead to new,it comes with its refillable inks, one AusPen whiteboard
eco-friendly office supplies. From being eco-fashionkit is the equivalent of approximately 246 disposable
forward, to cutting out air-borne toxins in themarkers.
boardroom, to reducing our use of natural resources inOld: The inconspicuous stapler that actually ends up
the office, these 5 environmentally-friendly officeusing a billion tons of steel each year.
supplies say goodbye to the old and hello to a greenNew: A steel-free staple that saves on the need to
2010 in the workplace.mine raw metals from the earth. The EcoStapler
Old: Leather or plastic bags and briefcases, high impactpunches up to 5 sheets of paper together, using no
dyes.extra natural resources.
New: Bags made from hemp, bamboo or 100%Old: Multiple chargers specifically designed for one
post-consumer waste rubber and with low impactdevice only, drawing on precious energy, raising the
dyes. The messenger bags from Green Earth Officeutilities bill, and causing great frustration when they are
Supply are made from 100% post-consumer recycledmisplaced.
rubber, and the bamboo briefcases sold throughNew: Solar chargers for laptops and other electronic
EnviroGadget are harvested from bamboo sustainablydevices like cell phones, BlackBerry, PDAs, digital
grown in the highlands of central China.cameras, etc. Earth Tech Products features solar
Old: 3-ring binders made from vinyl, a product that ischargers that harness the sun's energy. The Solar
both toxic to manufacture, and unable to break downGorilla laptop charger uses solar energy to recharge
in the landfill after its intended use.your laptop while the Power Monkey Explorer Solar
New: The Rebinder, made by Seattle's SustainableCharger stores up to 96 hours of reserve power for
Group and available through Frogfile, is made of 100%most electronic devices. Since it's hip to have all the
recycled (35%) post-consumer cardboard and islatest environmental ware, your colleagues will be
durable and recyclable.green with envy.
Old: Disposable whiteboard markers that use xylene, a