Environmental Stewardship

Below are several examples on the different General Stores processes and programs that we have to help us become environmental stewards for the Penn State Community.

• General Stores reduced paper usage by implementing an electronic tracking system. The system eliminates roughly 104,000 paper orders and 6000 custom cylinder gas forms annually.
• General Stores is also the main processing center for used toner cartridges. We will accept cartridges for recycling whether they were purchased through General Stores or from another sources. Simply complete our online return form and a pick-up will be scheduled, free of charge. Last year, 7.5 tons of used toner cartridges were processed for recycling at the University Park campus.
• General Stores offers a wide array of recycled products that can be found in the General Stores catalog and can be ordered online through eBuy, including Boise Aspen recycled paper (30% post-consumer content, 10 reams/carton) and is available by the skid or carton. The order mumbers are as follows:
  
  • PSU-GO-GREEN-CT (carton –UP ONLY)
  • PSU-GO-GREEN-SK (skid –UP ONLY)
  • PSU-GO-GREEN (carton –COMMONWEALTH CAMPUSES)
In addition to the above, Boise started packaging the Aspen 30, 50, and 100 recycled paper in a recycled brown kraft carton instead of the bleached carton that they used in the past. By making this change, the new carton packaging for ASPEN’S multipurpose grades enhances the brand’s impact on environmental sustainability, without increasing the cost of these products to the customer or compromising the quality of graphic image reproduction or the legibility of informational copy. The new packaging will continue to provide the same protection for the ASPEN paper inside. The new brown kraft carton offers several notable advantages over the current cartons and liners including less water used in fiber processing and fewer trees used in the manufacturing process.
• General Stores has also added the Energy Star certified Sylvania micro-mini compact fluorescent lamp and a wide array of green cleaning products and chemicals to the product line.