Currently, I work for perfectly lovely childcare-oriented nonprofit that does, indeed, provide valuable services to society. However, they do not see themselves as connected to the greater web and the future seems to go no further than the first day of Kindergarten. As a result, I am at this very moment breathing the offgas from recently applied paint and new carpet.
I've been trying in ways subtle and obnoxious to up the sustainability quotient at this perfectly lovely nonprofit and one of my major victories of last year was to get 100% post-consumer chlorine-free recycled paper in all of our copiers and printers. Yes! Thanks to a much-needed buying cooperative hosted by the decorated local nonprofit waste handler Eureka Recycling we had all the plain white and colored paper we could want! What a glorious day it was when our first shipment arrived!
It didn't last long. After two orders from the co-op and the departure of our sympathetic administrative assistant, ye olde Office Max paper starting showing up again. I finally sent an e-mail to our associate director yesterday. I just couldn't stand it anymore.
OK, I finally have to say it. I’m disappointed that we don’t have the recycled paper anymore. I don’t know what happened. I really feel that it’s a small step that we can take in the right direction. And it IS related to what we do as an organization. Today’s children will be very much affected by how we adults choose to use resources, eliminate/use toxins, etc. I know you don’t need a lecture so I’m sorry about that! I just wanted to emphasize my point a little bit. The co-op paper is comparably priced, good quality & supports another important local nonprofit, Eureka Recycling. They have also added compostable cutlery, etc. though I’m not sure what the costs look like on that.
The e-mail seems to have worked and, theoretically at least, we'll be back to the recycled paper very soon. So what's this post about? Perseverence, I guess. I don't think the problem is that people don't care about preserving trees and wilderness and ecosystems or reducing toxins. They just need to be reminded of the connections and be shown how to act upon the information. Our American experience does not include these more sustainable options among the more convenient ones that we've been trained by marketers to prefer.
Although I would recommend finding a local enterprise to support (or starting your own!), here's another recycled product cooperative that delivers to anywhere in the US: Recycled Products Cooperative http://www.recycledproducts.org/.
2 comments:
I met a lady from Eureka once. She had the compostable silverware for me to try out. It melted in hot water so I had to say no since we wanted to use it for soup, plus it was very expensive compared to the conventional death plastic ware. So dig that.
I'm not so sure how I feel about being referred to as the "sympathetic administrative assistant."
Post a Comment