[GreenYes] RE: Recycled Paper Sources

[Susan Kinsella <seek@susankinsella.com>]

I have a couple other sources to add to the good suggestion to check with
the Recycled Products Purchasing Cooperative
(http://www.recycledproducts.org/), which often can provide recycled copy
paper at the same price as virgin paper.

In response to an inquiry for our environmental paper listing on our website
(www.conservatree.com), Office Depot has informed us that they now have a
house brand recycled paper (they refer to it as "green top") with 35%
postconsumer content that they are pricing "very competitively" with their
house brand virgin paper (which they call "red top"). It is not yet
available in the stores, but can be bought on-line and through contracts and
should cost considerably less than brand-name virgin copy papers.

Also, I spoke recently on a panel with Patrick Robinson, National Accounts
Manager from International Paper, who said that they are making some
recycled paper available for the same price as virgin paper. For an order of
5 skids at a time, I would think he'd have some good suggestions on where
you can get equivalent prices. His e-mail address is
patrickrobinson@ipaper.com.

The paper listings on our website are very comprehensive in identifying
recycled papers that are available in the U.S. and Canada. If you find or
hear about others that aren't on there, please let us know and we'll check
them out. There are also supplier and manufacturer contact lists on the
site, although not cost data because it varies so much between locations and
situations. 

However, quite a few governments and companies tell me that they get
recycled copier paper for the same price as what they'd paid for virgin
paper. Sometimes it takes persistence. A purchaser for a computer company
told me that she'd been informed by her office products supplier that
recycled paper would cost 13% more - until she made it clear that her
company was serious about switching to recycled and would be looking for
better prices elsewhere. Then the quote changed - to assurances that she
could buy recycled copier paper from the supplier for the same price as
virgin. 

Susan Kinsella
-- 
Susan Kinsella
Executive Director
Conservatree
100 Second Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
415/721-4230
E-mail: paper@conservatree.com
Website: http://www.conservatree.com


******************************************
To post to the greenyes list,
email to: greenyes@grrn.org

Subscription information for
this list is available here:
http://www.grrn.org/general/greenyes.html
******************************************