Following our 2006 Green Office meeting, Admin. went to task identifying ways our use of paper products could be reduced, reused and recycled.

Heading the task, LaVerne Griffin researched and now orders paper products that are 100% recycled content, acid & chlorine free (with vegetable ink where applicable):

printer/fax paper stationary & cards envelopes paper towels & TP Also, glass and ceramic plates & cups replaced their paper counterparts in our kitchen.

That was a great start, but there was more we could do. Where was all the paper going?

Realizing the success the Report Distribution Server could have on paper reduction to the Field, we developed spreadsheet macros for the:

• LIO Backlog (R_BKLOG)
• Monthly Sales Report (ARLM_DS)
• Capitalized Equipment List (CAPLIST)
• Weekly Contract Hours Report (ARLMREPT)
• Weekly Payroll Hours Report (PRWKYRHR)
• LM Month To Date Hours Detail (PRMTDDTL)
• Price History Report (PRICHIST)
• Construction Job Costing Summary (JCCOST11)
• TC LIO Report (TC_MAN_HOUR_RATE)

This saved the Company over 40 reams (500 sheets each) annually - that's over 20,000 sheets of paper. We then looked internally for more reduction.

Paper was still being used on accounting reports, required by law, for audit purposes. Such reports used a phenomenal amount of paper. Instead, they could be stored electronically for audits.

Members of the Accounting & Payroll groups share what it used to take to store a years worth of audit reports.

To date, Admin. has converted AP, AR, GL, JC & PR reports totaling 110 reams of paper annually. This not only means a Company savings in dollars spent for:

• paper stock purchases and it's storage footprint
• shipment to and rental for archive storage
• professional shredding expenses once the storage liability statute expired

but a savings to the environment:

• trees saved - 6.6 (# of reams x .06 - % of average "soft wood" tree)
• CO2 output decreased - 765 lbs. (6.95 lbs./ream to manufacture the paper and trees not sequestering the CO2)

Don't knock the seemingly low amounts. Remember, these savings have been calculated while already using 100% recycled copy paper. The impact would be much larger if we had not changed from virgin content.

The Admin. staff is so excited about this successful reduction in paper use. We hope you are too!

Report back to GO Team and you too can get your smiling face on the web!

Becoming part of the solution ... GO! Team:
Allison, Brooke, Dennis, Hannah, Khrysti & Robin Roman