Went by the Utrecht art supplies store. Loose pencil (also china markers and colored pencils, in lieu of markers), gum erasers, metal rulers, gummed paper tape and a wide variety of paper supplies — all without additional plastic or extra packaging. Which is why I think of the art stores as good office supplies stores.
Category: Workplace
Brass brads keep papers together
OK: three posts in the last 2 years is a pretty poor result. I’ll try to do better. Now some plastic reduction. I bought these brass brads to keep papers together. They’re fun and remind me of elementary school book reports and high school plays. Inexpensive, reusable and not a bit of plastic.
Good swag at D.C. Google office
And by good swag I mean promotional goods not made of plastic, and are actually well-designed and useful things that I will actually use. One is a cotton tote bag with a cute graphic. The other is a glass water bottle. The glass water bottle has what appears to be a silicone thread and was… Continue reading Good swag at D.C. Google office
Transit vouchers go from plastic to paper
I imagine a costs-savings over a plastics-savings, but the word from Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is that plastic SmarTrip vouchers were being replaced with paper ones, beginning last month. We don’t get vouchers — among other things, I administer transit benefits for work; this information is behind a login — and WMATA will… Continue reading Transit vouchers go from plastic to paper
Keeping packing peanuts out of landfills
We can agree that plastic packing peanuts are best avoided, who actually seeks them out? Indeed, they seek us in the goods we order or gifts we receive. We get many at work, and they’re not recyclable through the usual waste streams. But shipping companies will sometimes take them and reuse them. The Plastic Loose… Continue reading Keeping packing peanuts out of landfills
Low plastic office: manila folders
Over the last couple of decades I have used, revised and rejected more document filing systems than I care to recall. While I never plan to go paperless, I do hope to convert many of my less useful files to PDFs and leave current and active files or vital documents as paper. And I plan… Continue reading Low plastic office: manila folders
Low plastic office: erasers
Some of my favorite erasers are proudly and plainly “plastic” — so once they’re used up I’ll get no more. Natural gum rubber erasers are available and presumably biodegradable. The last one I got wasn’t even packaged but a promotional piece from an arts supply store.
Dishwashing powder in a box
Here’s an easy one: if you use an automatic dishwasher, use powdered detergent — packaged in a pasteboard box — instead of a gel in a plastic bottle or those plastic bags filled with those preportioned plastic pillows. (What exactly happens to the plastic that “disappears” in the wash cycle?) I know, I know: I… Continue reading Dishwashing powder in a box