University switches to ‘green’ products

As part of Washington University’s initiative to enhance campus sustainability, Resource Management has partnered with WUSTL’s office products contractor, Corporate Express, to encourage the University’s use of “green,” environmentally friendly products.

WUSTL has asked Corporate Express to automatically substitute the equivalent green, environmentally friendly item when certain items, such as paper, are requisitioned or ordered. These green paper products will contain a percentage of postconsumer (recycled) content. Other substituted items may include pens, markers and cassettes.

In many cases, the cost of the green product is less or equal to its non-green counterpart. The substituted product will be the functional equivalent of the non-green product.

Over the past few years, WUSTL’s purchase of green products as a percentage of its total office supplies purchased from Corporate Express has increased from 15 percent to 21 percent. The University hopes this latest initiative will push that number even higher.

Product substitutions began April 1.

For more information or questions about this change, please contact Bob Weinstein, senior contract management liaison in Purchasing Services, at 935-4298 or bob_weinstein@wustl.edu.