[GreenYes] response about recycled paper

["Elder.Jeff" <Jeff.Elder@msmail.unitedway.org>]

Hi Laura (and others who posted about recycled paper, etc.),
 
While we're not through the process entirely, we've got a lot of momentum
here at my national nonprofit (national office for 1400 local offices) to
buy 30% pc recycled paper among other waste reducing/reusing/recycling
plans.  The big issues preventing us from doing it in the last decade were
"bad experiences" with using early recycled paper -- color was off,
particles in it, not clean, etc.  Once burned, twice shy.  So, noone looked
into it in the interim, during which the quality has become identical.  Now,
the only issue is price.  And if you order large quantities, there are
suppliers who will ship for free bringing the cost down to a 5-10% markup
(perhaps less for REALLY large purchasers).  From my experience just in the
last year, the price we have been offered has gone down significantly due to
the demand our vendor is attracting and continues to attract as people
realize it's not that much more expensive.  It's really a matter of volume
now to make it more cost-effective (and I'm speaking in the literal
accounting sense, not the full-cost accounting including externalities, such
as the cost of cleared forests, treating the wood to rid it of lignin,
etc.).  That is to say, I agree with what another person said on the list,
that demand is really the crux of the issue right now.   So, here's my
advice (unsolicited, sorry about that) to those in the business of
encouraging recycled paper use and elsewhere.  Go to big users of paper
directly or ask who in a business or nonprofit is the most environmentally
concerned (everyone knows who they are -- I'm the jolly green giant, here!)
and take them the info materials that show it works in printers, doesn't
jam, looks good and doesn't cost too much more and you'd be surprised how
many will make the switch. When they make a proposal to the higher  ups,
they might be surprised what they come out with.  
 
By the way, the paper supplier we've looked into is www.recycledproducts.org
<http://www.recycledproducts.org> .  I highly recommend them.  Nationwide
distribution. Rock bottom prices. 
 
Thanks to you all for being great resources during the past year of lurking
and absorbing.  I couldn't have made this much progress without this
listserve.  And hi to Blair Pollack from Chapel Hill, where I grew up
hearing about these issues.
 
Jeff Elder
703-836-7112, 495.
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