Moving toward more sustainable printing and paper use
| Region(s) | Montréal, Québec Canada |
|---|---|
| In domains | Banking and Finance, CECOSOL, Reuse of Materials, Waste Reduction |
| Participants | Caisse d'économie solidaire Desjardins |
At the Caisse d'économie solidaire Desjardins, social, environmental and economic concerns have been and continue to be central to its mission. For 37 years, the Caisse has supported the development of the social and solidarity economy, and in recent years has worked hard to improve its environmental performance. The Caisse’s paper-management policy is one example of this, demonstrating what a company can accomplish when its employees work together toward a common goal.
The Caisse d’économie solidaire has made use of its leadership position to promote its environmental practices, both within the company and in the business community. For example, it has decided to use only paper made from 100% post-consumer fibres, manufactured by the Cascades Fine Papers Group, and has asked its printers to do the same.
Moving toward more environmentally-friendly paper use takes place on a number of levels; it requires the participation of all employees as well as greater involvement on the part of a select few.
First, it is important to choose the type of paper that best meets the criteria set out in an eco-responsible purchasing policy. The Caisse d’économie solidaire has chosen to use Cascades Enviro 100 paper, made of 100% recycled fibres, for both its internal and external communications. To ensure that its purchasing policy is as consistent as possible, the Caisse has asked its printers to use the same type of paper.
With regard to internal communications, the Caisse has purchased new equipment designed to cut down on non-recyclable waste. The credit union now has a number of “three-in-one” machines manufactured by Xerox that serve as fax machine, photocopier and printer. Containing parts that can later be recycled, the machines use solvent-free ink sticks – an important feature, since solid ink generates less waste – and print only “failed” fax transmissions. As well, the Caisse’s computers have been programmed to enable double-sided printing on special new printers. Overall, there has been a substantial improvement, given the fact that a large number of the credit union’s documents contain many pages. Lastly, a more recent effort involves taking documents in which the pages are printed on one side only and converting them into note pads.
For all of these changes to take place, credit union personnel must be trained and made aware of the necessity of cutting down on their paper consumption. Employees may readily agree that saving the planet requires effort, but putting this into practice and changing personal habits is no easy task. Key staff members have therefore been designated to ensure that new or negligent employees comply with the regulations and to resolve any technical difficulties that may arise while employees’ computers and work-stations are reconfigured. Trainers are also available to instruct personnel who may be unfamiliar with the filing systems on their computers.
Furthermore, the Caisse instructs all employees to avoid printing emails unless absolutely necessary, and there are permanent reminders encouraging them to “think green”. Any documents required for meetings are sent as Powerpoint presentations to the people concerned.
Regarding external communications, the Caisse promotes paperless communication by sending out a monthly electronic bulletin to the roughly one thousand members that have subscribed to it. In addition, the credit union plans to increase the number of subscribers to its electronic mailing list and thus reduce its paper consumption by 15%.
Raising awareness among employees can be a rather long-term and arduous task, since habits developed over many years are hard to break. Therefore, to manage electronic documents as effectively as those made of paper, employees must attend training sessions and undergo individual monitoring. Frequent reminders are necessary, since the reflex to print everything returns easily. It is also difficult to maintain consistency, as demonstrated by the case of an employee who took it upon herself to collect pieces of paper printed on one side only and staple them together to create notepads that she then handed out to her colleagues. However, the practice unfortunately came to an end when the employee left the company. It is only normal that there will be occasional setbacks on the road to change, but the important thing is to stay the course.
The Caisse’s progress has also had an effect on its operating costs, given that 19% less paper was purchased in 2007, thanks in large part to double-sided printing and the fact that employees are encouraged to read documents on their computer screens and not print them out.
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