CONTENTS |  | Letter from the Chair | | Principles | | Endorsers | | Practices | | Actions | | The Building | | Transportation | | Meetings & Conferences | | Money Matters | | | | | Reduce Easy tips:
Use eco-friendly packaging
Use public transportation when doing business
Use both sides of paper Avoid disposable products whenever possible. Replace disposable plates and plastic utensils with durable dishes and flatware. Keep a supply of extra mugs and glasses in a common area and have each employee use his or her own mug. Keep cloth towels next to the sink to be used instead of paper towels. Print letters and reports on both sides of the page, and make two-sided copies. Use electronic mail whenever possible. Electronic communication between foundations and grantees can cut down on unnecessary paper waste. Set up a form for grantees to E-mail their grant proposals. Send out your annual report electronically. Replace your hard copy newsletters with electronic versions. Use half-page cover sheets for fax mail or Òpost-itÓ type notes designed specifically for fax transmissions. If available, eliminate paper at the sender's end by using the fax server function of your office's computer network. Buy a plain paper fax. This will eliminate the need to make photocopies of all your fax mail and, unlike thermal paper, plain paper is recyclable. Supply a canvas shopping bag for use at the market. When shopping for office supplies, decline to take a bag for purchases that can be carried by hand. ÒPrecycleÓ by purchasing products in recycled and recyclable containers and packages such as aluminum, glass, steel, paper, and cardboard. Avoid plastic polystyrene products that are neither reusable nor easily recyclable. Purchase items in bulk packages and/or concentrate form to avoid superfluous packaging. Consider the amount of paper generated by the foundation. Does the foundation need to send copies of its annual report to various groups, or can some be eliminated? How many copies of the same report need to be made? Can your annual report be posted to a World Wide Web page to save on paper and mailings? Reduce or eliminate the use of colored paper. White paper requires less bleach in the recycling process, and recycling companies will pay you more for it. Avoid glossy publications which are harder to recycle. Explore procedures to reduce the amount of paper used in the proposal review process. For instance, request that contact be made through brief letters of inquiry; use proposal forms that encourage applicants to be brief, rather than encouraging open-ended proposals; suggest that grantees include only limited amounts of writing samples or examples of previous work; ask that information be supplied in electronic form. Reduce use of wood products by using a tree-free alternative for paper. There are several types widely available including kenaf, hemp, and cotton (see SimpleLife Guide to Tree-Free, Recycled and Certified Papers under the resources section). If you work in an office building featuring dropped ceilings and alternating banks/panels of fluorescent lights, you will probably find your work spaces excessively lighted. Light panels typically hold four 4-foot bulbs, but more than adequate light can usually be had from just two. Completely removing two bulbs from their sockets in each of the panels will cut electricity usage in half and double the life of your current stock of fluorescent bulbs. Reduce the amount of junk mail that your foundation receives by asking that your name be taken off unwanted mailing lists. One call to a mail preference service is all it takes to stop unwanted junk mail. top Business Junk Mail Reduction Project National Waste Prevention Coalition
(See Recycling Resources) http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc/bizjunkmail.htm
Center for a New American Dream
6930 Carroll Ave., Suite 900
Takoma Park, MC 20912
301.891.3683
301.891.3684 fax
www.newdream.org Junk Busters Guide to Reducing Junk
908.753.7861
www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/self.html Mail Preference Service
c/o Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735Ð9008
212.768.7277 ext. 7806
www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html Reduce the Hail of Unwanted Mail
Reduce.org
Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance
Hotline 800.632.3299
www.moea.state.mn.us/campaign/junkmail/index.html top |
