Purchasing
STARTING POINT
1. All office paper is at least 30% post-consumer waste (pcw) recycled
- Office Max- 30% recycled copy paper is the same price as virgin copy paper on the Harvard contract.
- Our Common Green Purchases Fact Sheet lists the OfficeMax item numbers for recycled paper and other top green products.
- Adding Machine, Calculator, & Cash Register Rolls - 30% pcw recycled, on contract with OfficeMax (product # P4OM97637)
STEP IT UP
2. Ask your IT group to purchase only EPEAT rated computers and monitors
- The EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Rating System evaluates computers and monitors based on their environmental performance (energy conservation, materials selection, design for end of life, corporate performance, etc.)
3.Request environmentally-preferable office furniture
Buying eco-friendly desks, chairs, cabinets, space dividers, and other furniture is getting easier. Check our Green Furniture Fact Sheet for more information. 
- A list of green chairs compiled by TreeHugger
- Herman Miller-Herman Miller is an industry leader in sustainability efforts. For example, its Aeron chair is made from 66% recycled materials, including over 50 2-liter plastic beverage bottles used in each chair frame. It is 94% recyclable at the end of its useful life. Creative Office Pavilion is a Harvard Preferred Vendor and sells Herman Miller products.
- Steelcase - uses a growing amount of recycled content in its steel and particle-board products. Office Environments is a Harvard Preferred Vendor and sells Steelcase products.
- HON - offers desks, cubicles, chairs, files, storage and tables, and is the world's first furniture manufacture to adopt the stringent Indoor Advantage certification for air quality and some products are made of recycled materials. OfficeMax is a Harvard Preferred Vendor and sells HON products.
- Guilford of Maine - offers a line of upholstery fabrics made from recycled soda bottles
- Knoll - uses material made from recycled soda bottles in some chairs and works to verify lumber companies' sustainable practices and seeks out reclaimed lumber
- HMU- offers lower-cost, recycled workstations, by cleaning and repainting metal, replaces fabric, and recycles used materials. It also uses low-VOC coatings, fabrics made from recycled plastics, and other environmentally friendly processes
4. Buy refillable or recycled pens and refillable or FSC certified wood pencils
- Forest Stewardship Council
- Pens and pencils are listed on our Fact Sheet
5. Order recycled content envelopes, post-it notes and binders
- Our Common Green Purchases Fact Sheet lists the OfficeMax item numbers for this and other top products.
- ecoenvelopes - easily reusable business reply envelopes, available in 100% PCW stock.
6. All office paper is 100% post-consumer recycled
- Our Common Green Purchases Fact Sheet lists the OfficeMax item numbers for this and other top products.
7. Request recycled or FSC certified paper for all outsourced print jobs
- More information on our Green Office Publications page