Commercial, Energy Efficiency, Commercial  -  October 18, 2017

Office Depot recognizes customers for 'green' spending

As part of a broader effort to encourage its customers to make "greener" business decisions, Office Depot Inc. has recognized a number of them from both the private and public sector that the company believes have taken a forward-looking leadership role in greener purchasing. 

The office supplies and business products company said Oct. 16 that it selected winners for its customer award based on their expenditure on products with eco-attributes such as recycled content, energy-efficiency, non-toxicity, etc., and/or ecolabels. Customer purchases with the highest level of meaningful eco-attributes and ecolabels were given extra weight in the selection process.

The "Leadership in Greener Purchasing" award winners include private sector organizations American Electric Power Co.; Best Buy Co.;  DaVita Inc., Oracle Corp.; Rush Enterprises, Inc.; Marsh & McLennan Companies; and Ogletree Deakins. From the public sector, customers were the city of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Los Angeles City College, University of California, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania and Washington State Department of Licensing. 

The University of Pennsylvania received the Office Depot Special Recognition for Greener Spend Analysis Award, which recognizes "the exemplary efforts specific to analyzing green spend data." Office Depot and the University of Pennsylvania also worked together on the 'Power Down Challenge' energy savings initiative, which allowed Office Depot to identify top technology items that could both improve energy efficiency and lower the environmental footprint for the campus. 

Office Depot said in a news release that it uses a wide range of approaches to increase customer uptake of greener products, including its "Green Book" digital catalog intended to simplify the green shopping experience for its customers. In 2017, sales of greener products accounted for 30% of the company's total product assortment, according to the company.