Staples Finds it EcoEasy Being Green

Recently while perusing through the local Super Stop and Shop I remembered that I was in desperate need of Wite-Out (review to follow!) and I headed for the office supplies isle. Being a super Greenie sleuth just about anything Earth tone is generally going to catch my eye. Being a writer when the brown thing is a composition book there is no way I will not pick it up. When I flipped it over Staples won me over and this baby went straight into the cart!

Inside the front cover is a world of information on this innocent looking comp book. Not only is the book made from 80% waste, it is made from sugarcane, a more rapidly renewing resource than trees! Then to top it all off the inks used to print the covers and page lines are water or vegetable based.

Staples EcoEasy line offers over 3000 products including this comp book. They are also available online for purchase** and the prices are fairly competitive with the similar not so eco friendly versions. The cost of my comp book was $2.49 at the grocery store and online it is being offered for the same price. Not too bad!

Ball point pen ink doesn’t bleed through at all so I could write front to back with no fear of illegibility. Of course I do not always use ball point so I tested a few other types of pens from thick Sharpie to fine Sharpie to a Rolling ball style. Both markers did show through some, but less than I had expected, and the liquid rolling ball was somewhat visible but better.

Based on my own writer’s test of this composition notebook, the Staples EcoEasy line as a whole and the company’s solid efforts to save trees and energy, I am granting this baby a Three and a Half Leaf Rating!

For all of my future office supply needs I will be sure to check out Staples EcoEasy line first! Keep up the great ideas folks! ♥love♥

**As a side note, OneCause will donate 1.5% of all purchases made at Staples online store so do not forget to set up a OneCause account and download the toolbar prior to shopping so the school of your choice (such as Adventure School in Tucson) can benefit as well. Being Green is Easy!

Eco Fashion Friday Feature on OneCause

A few days ago my sister, who many of you know is a Director of a preschool in Tucson, Arizona, sent out an email regarding a website she and her parents have been frequenting lately called OneCause. Her email gave some basic detail -- the site is a click through portal that leads to hundreds of merchants that her parents already shop at -- and I was intrigued.

The site costs nothing to join and it could not be easier to register, just providing a small amount of information gains access. Then each time you shop at the affiliated merchants just use the OneCause website to access their pages and voila!

You may be wondering why I have chosen to feature these folks on an Eco Fashion Friday. I have done so because many of the affiliated merchants are environmentally based and socially conscious clothing manufacturers. Fantastic!

By going through OneCause for your shopping needs, a percentage of the total is donated to the school or cause of your choice (varies by merchant). With just under 800 merchants on board it is almost impossible to count or list all of the fashion conscious choices but, with companies like Gaiam (who donates 3%) or Little Earth (4%) on board, it is easy to see how this Boston based company has already helped foster over $200 million in donations across 30,000 well deserving places in the ten short years it has been up and running.

My sister’s school, Adventure School in Tucson, could greatly benefit from this socially conscious shopping experience! I have registered with the site and chose Adventure School as the cause I want to contribute to. Next time I am shopping online I simply open the OneCause website, find my desired shop and go to it like normal.

Here is a good example:

I am traveling in November and likely will use Travelocity to book everything, keeping the process simplified. This particular company donates 1%. On a potential $1000 vacation that is a donation of $10 to the school. Over time those dollars really add up!

I hope that everyone will sign up and begin using OneCause as their primary portal into the online merchants they love. When selecting a school I do understand there are many choices but if you do not have children of your own in a currently supported school I strongly encourage everyone to select Adventure School in Tucson, AZ as your school to support.

Thanks everyone now get out and find those Green and environmentally responsible selections through this socially conscious manner!