Thanks to Region 5 Staff Rep Kathleen Demareski for this suggestion and to Francis Rustia and other OPSEU staff for the implementation.
Every three months, OPSEU produces local-by-local membership listings - one for each local and one for that local's regional office. The lists are used by local executive committees and staff for a variety of purposes including mobilizing for bargaining, convention delegate entitlement, organizing general meetings and signing up new members.
These reports use about 60,000 sheets of paper per year. By posting the lists electronically for use by the regional office staff, OPSEU can now reduce this paper usage by up to 50%. While it is expected that lists will be printed at the regional offices on an as-needed basis, significant savings are expected in terms of paper, money (up to $250), ink, storage and of course greenhouse gas emissions. Says Francis,
I believe this new Greening OPSEU initiative of reducing quarterly local listings by up to 30,000 sheets per year will save some trees. 30,000 is a lot and we can improve even more in the near future with new technologies available.
Phase II of this plan, expected to begin after the 2009 Convention, will have the Locals getting two hard copies per year instead of four. The other two lists will be provided electronically to the local with hard copies available upon request.
According to Conservatree, one tree equals about 8,333 sheets of paper. Therefore, this change will result in savings of up to 4 trees per year.
As for other initiatives that can have an immediate impact, Francis adds,
At OPSEU offices, the new RICOH Aficio printers can easily be set for double-sided printing and copying to significantly reduce paper use. For copying, press the double-sided button and for printing, set your printer default to "duplex".
1) Click "Start", "Programs", "Printers and Faxes"
2) Select the RICOH printer
3) Right click, select "properties"
4) Check the "duplex" checkbox
5) Save.
Clearcut forest
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