Did you know that the US Postal service returns 5 billion pieces of undeliverable mail each year? This cost the US postal service more than $1.8 billion dollars in 2004…

Pitney Bowes printer supplies company is leading the coalition of environmentally friendly manufacturers in the printer industry.  They are striving to become a more responsible printer supplies company and reducing their impact on the environment by improving the sustainability of the Pitney Bowes printer supplies, monitoring how the company operates and revolutionizing the printer manufacturer industry as a whole with ground breaking innovations.

Pitney Bowes is dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of our operations, products and services. – Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes’ Printer Supplies Green Design

Back in 1991 when their competitors were thinking about reducing costs and increasing the bottom lines, Pitney Bowes was thinking about improving the world. That is why they created the Design for Environmental Quality (DfEQ) program. The goal with the program was to minimize environmental impact at an early stage of product development and throughout the printer supplies’ life cycle starting with the material input, moving into manufacturing and ending in recycling. As a result many Pitney Bowes printer supplies are labeled as Energy-star efficient, and their products on average consume 10 to 14% less energy per life cycle than their product predecessor.

On top of their “lean green” manufacturing techniques, 95% of Pitney Bowes printer supplies are recyclable.  They make a conscious effort to recover Pitney Bowes pritner supplies which can be demonstrated in the fact that in 2008, Pitney Bowes processed nearly 8 million pounds of cooper, steel, paper and other materials through Pitney Bowes printer supplies return programs.  Lastly, Pitney Bowes developed the ecowise℠ service to help consumers identify their carbon footprint and provide find ways to reduce it!

Pitney Bowes “Lean Green” Operations

The printer supplies manufacturer is constantly on the hunt for new, innovative ways in which they can reduce their carbon footprint. In 2007, Pitney Bowes Norway began replacing their leased vehicles with ones with lower emissions. They gave employees three options: electric, hydrogen or bio-fuel.  This move resulted in 40% lower emissions.  Pitney Bowes has also established an “energy task force” to bring employee awareness about energy conservation. In 2008, Pitney Bowes was able to reduce their electricity consumption by 3 million kilowatt hours, saving $873,000 and reducing carbon footprint by 2.6K metric tons of carbon oxide. Pitney Bowes has also made energy efficiency improvements to their offices by improving heating, ventilation & A/C units as well as purchasing energy-star approved computer monitors and installing motion sensors to control lighting systems. An article on Office-Suites.com reports that Pitney Bowes is joining other large corporations such as IBM and DuPont by encouraging commercial landlords to offer competitive rates for “green office” units. The site also reports Pitney Bowes leases 362 offices in the United States alone (totaling 2.8 million sq. ft).

The last two initiatives Pitney Bowes printer supplies manufacturer has employed include; their waste management / recycling program and sustainable forest projects.  Pitney Bowes has been volunteering in the EPA’s WasteWise program, designed to reduce corporate waste, since 1996. In 2008, Pitney Bowes was named to the WasteWise Hall of Fame for their continued commitment (In 2008 alone their program diverted 7.52 thousand tons of waste from land fills) to the program. Back in 2003 Pitney Bowes entered into a partnership with the EPA and began purchasing renewable energy credits to support green power projects (solar, wind & biomass). It is also worthy to note that Pitney Bowes has a paper procurement and sustainability team that monitors the company’s paper consumption both internally and externally to decrease overall waste.

Environmental Impacts To Date?

We will let the graph below speak for itself in terms of the “hard numbers”. Bottom line, Pitney Bowes is a leader within the printer industry in terms of going green and becoming a sustainable, forward-thinking company.  Other companies, not just those in the printing business or in manufacturing for that matter should model their ethics and behavior after Pitney Bowes, who have proven time again that a company can improve the bottom-line without negatively impacting the environment. The world is a better place with Pitney Bowes.

To learn more about Pitney Bowes’ corporate responsibility visit their website which includes white papers, studies and other reports pertaining to green operations.

Is your small business going green?

Here at The Supplies Guys we’re working to make ourselves a little bit greener each day. For example, we started off the new year by adding a recycling bin for scrap paper to our office. But, obviously, there are many other ways we can easily change the way we work to conserve the environment.

So, to jumpstart our efforts (and help you with yours) here’s a list of 19 quick and easy steps we can take to become greener in the office:

• Use fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs. Fluorescent cost about 75% less to run and last 10 times longer than incandescent.

• Print on both sides of the paper. Use unused paper for scrap paper or shred it and reuse as packing material.

• Switch to eco-friendly cleaning supplies and products that are biodegradable and non-toxic.

• Buy recycled paper products.

• Properly recycle all unwanted electronics. Call the town in which your business is located to find out how to do so or check out http://earth911.com/ to find recycling centers near you.

• Encourage employees to recycle by providing bins for glass, paper and plastic recyclables.

• Turn off all computers, electronics, lights and appliances when not in use.

• Install motion sensors in appropriate rooms and bathrooms.

• Set up timers on outside lights so they aren’t running all day and night.

• Look into energy efficient EXIT signs that will assist in lowering overall electricity costs.

• Fix all leaks as soon as you notice them. Letting them go can wastes gallons and gallons of water, costing hundreds of wasted dollars.

• Look into purchasing efficient faucets, showerheads, and toilets to reduce the amount of water used up to 50%.

• Install air dryers in the bathroom to eliminate wasted paper and constant replacement costs.

• Change your HVAC filters regularly. Try to change them even more frequently during peak cold and hot months, depending on your location. Dirty filters cause the equipment to overwork which uses more energy and releases poor quality air.

• Program the thermostat in your office to go lower, higher or turned off completely when office hours are not in session.

• Replace plastic utensils and paper plates in the office with permanent dishware. This again eliminates repetitive replacement costs. Introduce the idea by purchasing unique coffee mugs for each employee. (I only suggest this if you’re confident of your employees’ cleaning habits and won’t expect to find dirty dishes at their desks!)

• Purchase only appliances that are ENERGY STAR efficient. Also, purchase products and electronics made from “green” materials

• Call your electricity company about an energy audit. Most companies will come to you to assess the amount of energy being used. They will also provide tips and suggestions on how to reduce usage.

• Check out ENERGY STAR for Small Businesses. There is a ton of information about saving energy as well as thousands of participating small businesses that you can connect to share and gain ideas on greening your office.

It’s important for all of us to start doing our part – especially with such simple changes. Let us know in the comments – what is your office doing to contribute to the environment?