Key Administrative Offices Switch to Use of Recycled Paper

After a number of discussions with student and alumni environmental organizations, the President's Office and the Office of the Governing Boards decided this spring to use only recycled copy paper and bond (stationery) paper. This environmentally friendly move was accomplished with the use of a new generation of higher-quality recycled paper.

The President's Office and the Office of the Governing Boards were first made aware that a new line of recycled paper would be roughly the same in cost and quality when members of Harvard's undergraduate environmental organization, the Environmental

Action Committee (EAC), approached the President's Office looking for a change.

"We realized that recycled paper could now become an affordable, environmentally conscious reality at Harvard," said EAC member Danielle Schindler '98, "and decided that the President's Office would be an appropriate and symbolic start." Aided by an alumni environmental organization -- Harvard Alumni for Environmental Responsibility (HAER) -- the students and alumni looked to the President's Office and the Office of the Governing Boards to galvanize a broader transition to recycled materials on campus.

Students approached Jacqueline O'Neill, staff director in the President's Office, and spoke with her about the possibility of purchasing only recycled paper in spring of 1997.

"Ms. O'Neill was helpful from the start, and within months of contacting her, the entire office was engaged in a trial period," explained EAC member David Grewal.

During the yearlong trial, the recycled paper fared just as well in the office equipment as in the judgments of the office staff. Amelia Careghini, who handles all purchasing for the President's Office, said, "We were more than satisfied with the quality of the recycled products. If the cost is comparable, there's really no reason not to make the change."

The Office now uses recycled copier paper and will be switching to 100 percent recycled bond paper for official stationary as soon as it becomes available. Rick Joly, account representative for Harvard Printing & Publications Services -- the University's distributor -- said, "The new recycled sheet is made from 100 percent recycled paper. Furthermore, it is recyclable -- meaning you can put it in the recycle bin when you're done." Harvard Printing & Publications Services expects delivery of the new recycled bond within the next month. Any questions regarding recycled paper products or requests for samples of the complete product line can be directed to Joly at 495-2175, ext. 205.

A number of offices and departments already have switched to recycled paper, some of them accepting the same rationale that the students originally proposed to the President's Office: purchasing

recycled paper constitutes a painless, yet significant change toward environmental sustainability. The Harvard Alumni Office, the Harvard Law School, and academic departments such as the Environmental Science and Public Policy department use recycled copier and bond paper as a matter of purchasing policy.

While the President's Office and the Office of the Governing Boards are not the first offices to adopt a policy of purchasing only recycled paper, students judge it to be a symbolically important move. "These offices have signaled that the switch to recycled paper is acceptable and feasible," explains Schindler. "We hope that more departments and faculties will now follow their lead."