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P2 in Your Office Operations
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In addition to the Environmental Management System (EMS) for our EPA office/facility in Philadelphia, here are some pollution prevention practices we do that you might want to try. |
Ordering Supplies With A Recycled Content - Many of our EPA Region 3 office supplies come from the General Service Administration. For all supplies the GSA catalog indicates whether or not an item contains recycled material and the percentage. The number of items made with recycled materials continues to increase.
100% Recycled Content Paper - In the beginning of 2001, Region
3, on our own initiative, started using Envirographic 100 copier paper
from BadgerPaper in Wisconsin. Now all of the copy paper used by our office
is 100 percent recycled with 100 percent post-consumer fiber. In addition,
the paper is made using a chlorine free process. Using our new 100 percent
across-the-board standard, the annual savings equate to eliminating 73,372
pounds of solid waste, conserving 80,730 gallons of water, saving 105,300
kilowatt hours of electricity; preventing the emission of 133,380 pounds
of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, and sparing the
cutting of 810 trees that would be used to make new paper. Process chlorine-free
paper will reduce the amount of dioxin in wastewater from paper mills.
The EPA Headquarters paper policy adopted in a Memorandum
dated January 19, 2001 calls for 100 percent recycled paper with a minimum
50 percent post-consumer fiber.
Double-Sided Copying and Printing - Employees are encouraged
to cut paper use by making fewer copies, double-siding the copies they
do make, and using electronic mail instead of paper. Employees may also
print documents on double sided printers however, these printers are not
now available on every floor of the building. All copiers that can be,
have been set to default to double-sided copying. Divisional newsletters
have been eliminated and regional newsletters such as "Inside Story"
are placed on the internal Intranet. And, staff in the EPA Copy Center
will question jobs that are requested as single-side, and sometimes question
the number of copies that people request.
Conserving Copier Toner - Leaving copier covers open when making
copies wastes toner since all areas not covered print out black. In addition,
this overheats the fuser area which can cause jams and reduce copier life.
Signs have been placed near all copiers requesting that covers be closed
during use.
Publications on CD Rom, Local Area Network and World Wide Web
- The Regional Library now orders a number of publications on CD Rom.
Those include the Federal Register, the Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Science
& Technology, databases to index literature, etc. And, the Local Area
Network (Lan) has become the delivery mechanism of choice for the Regional
Library. Whenever possible, literature searches, journal articles, lists
of new acquisitions, and lists of companies are transmitted via the Lan.
Recycling - Each EPA Region 3 employee's office and all conference rooms have a recycling receptacle for paper. To help emphasize recycling, this receptacle is about twice the size of the "trash" can in each office. Copy rooms also contain recycling receptacles for paper. All types of paper, including white, all colors and newspaper, as well as cardboard can be placed in the paper recycling receptacles. Glass, Plastic and Aluminum Can Recycling bins are present in the employee lunch rooms on each floor of the Region 3 office. Also posted in each lunch room is the, "Bin There Done That" Regional recycling guide.
Recycled Laser Printer Cartridges - Used cartridges from laser
printers are returned to the Supply Room for refurbishing off-site. Only
recycled laser printer cartridges are purchased.
Reusing Supplies - When people order dumpsters for cleaning out
their offices, they are reminded that reusable supplies can be returned
to the Supply Room. Reusables typically include paper clips, 3-ring binders,
plastic binder spines, and partially used notepads.
Using Used Paper - In the offices of Regional Counsel and in a
few offices elsewhere, paper used on one side is used in printers dedicated
to printing draft documents. In addition, used paper is used in some copying
machines. The practice is not more widespread since used paper causes
many copiers and printers to jam. Used paper is also used for taking notes,
either in its original size or cut down, sometimes clipped or stapled
together, sometimes not.
Soy-based or vegetable-based inks - All print jobs use either
soy-based or vegetable-based inks. All employee business cards are printed
on recycled paper with soy based inks. The recycled/recyclable logo is
to be printed on all Region 3 publications. It should be placed
prominently (e.g., on the back cover of the printed document) with the
words "Printed with
soy-based or vegetable-based inks on 100% recycled/recyclable paper with
50% or more
post-consumer fiber."
P2 at EPA Employee Events - The EPA Employee's Association sponsors
a number of events for employees each year. At the twice yearly Ice Cream
Days employees are encouraged to bring their own own bowl and spoon. Those
who don't are charged 25 cents/bowl and 5 cents/spoon.
Buying in Bulk - The Association also buys mustard for pretzel
days and chocolate syrup for ice cream days in Bulk. Before the events,
individual containers saved from previous events, are refilled.
Report on the Impact
of EPA Region III's Green Building Lease Philadelphia
This report decribes the efforts planners for Region III took to incorporate
green building concepts in the retrofitting and leasing of the 1650 Arch
Street office space.