April 28, 2008 | Filed under: Paper Stats by Nick | No Comments »

Today, I came across the following information in a fact sheet by the Environmental Paper Network:

Fibers from virgin forests make up approximately two-thirds of the pulp that goes into papers made at North American paper mills. But this percentage varies considerably by type of paper. For example, many kinds of packaging include high levels of recycled content. But, even though printing and office papers make up more than a quarter of all U.S. paper production, less than 6% of their fibers come from recycling. In other words, more than 90% of printing and office paper has no recycled content at all. Instead, they are made almost entirely from “virgin” fibers, meaning those harvested for their first use.

The fact sheet goes on to say:

As global demand for paper rises and developing countries emulate the paper use of developed countries, it is increasingly ever more important to use paper wisely and increase the use of recycled fiber in order to protect the world’s forests and waters and to reduce toxic emissions and climate change.

We respect the Environmental Paper Network immensely and they have developed an incredible online resource. We are 100% on board with their take-home message to use less paper, and to recycle what you must use. We tip our hats to them and look forward to helping businesses connect with cost-effective solutions to work towards these noble goals.

April 23, 2008 | Filed under: Going Clean by Nick | No Comments »

Our Earth Day launch of the Cleaner Commerce campaign was a big success and we enjoyed the feedback people sent in! We still have a bunch of things in the works like enhancing the impact calculator and adding features to the blog. The Cleaner Commerce you see today is just the beginning of what will become a much larger campaign with all sorts of informative content and useful tools to help companies become more efficient.

Earth Day 2008 has come and gone, but the value of running a business efficiently remains. Earth Day is a great day to make an extra effort to “go green,” but the benefits of using resources responsibly do not stop there.

On the business side of the equation, running your operations more efficiently saves money and gives employees more time to focus on value-adding projects. It can be a challenge to overcome inertia and actually get efficient solutions implemented, but it is well worth it once you do.

The environmental benefits of efficiency are very clear – you do more with fewer resources and produce less pollution. Enough said!

It is also no secret that taking steps to be more efficient is great for corporate image – people like the good guys better!

Join us over the next several weeks as we discuss how companies can take steps to become more efficient, and ultimately become better businesses.

April 22, 2008 | Filed under: Blog by Nick | No Comments »

Hello, my name is Nick Harris and I am the Environmental Specialist at Advanced Data Exchange (ADX) - an E-Commerce service provider for thousands of companies across dozens of industries. I am here to announce the Earth Day 2008 launch of the Cleaner Commerce campaign!

Sponsored by ADX, the campaign’s goal is to reduce the environmental impacts of commerce, starting with paper. ADX offers services that help companies go paper-free, so sponsoring Cleaner Commerce is a “win-win” for our company: good for business and good for the environment.

I am passionate about connecting businesses with efficient solutions, and a major step most can make today is to use less paper! Sure, there are myriad other steps that can be taken too, but paper reduction is a simple step in the right direction that will help guide companies down a more efficient path. I think Earth Day is a great time to think about how we can use our resources more wisely and reduce the environmental impacts of our business practices.

Today marks the beginning of a journey that will ultimately bring together many businesses, environmental organizations, and individuals to develop ways to work towards a cleaner future. Please check back often and keep in touch - I look forward to working on a noble and practical vision with you all!

-Nick Harris

P.S. Check out some of the cool features on our website:
- Our home page with the “To think, to create” introduction video.
- Our impact calculator where you can estimate how much paper you business uses.
- Our “Retire the Fax” video series where you can see what these loyal workers are doing now that technology has allowed them to retire.