Open Collections

An investigation into triple bottom line assessment of eco-friendly office supplies : file folders

University of British Columbia. Sustainability Office

This report investigates how “green” eco-friendly file folders actually are through conducting an in-depth triple-bottom-line (TBL) analysis. As of now, many people are acknowledging the various benefits of eco-friendly office supplies. UBC’s main suppliers for office products, OfficeMax and Staples, are also promoting their most popular file folders. These items are labelled as either “green” or “non-green”. Primary and secondary researches are conducted in this investigation to reveal the various impacts that these products could potentially have on the environment, society, and economy. The analysis is primarily conducted by comparing the “green” and “non-green” labelled file folders from a spreadsheet provided by the stakeholders. For the secondary research, the prices, popularity, durability, green materials, and certifications of the file folders are deterministic indicators for the TBL analysis. Based on the data from the spreadsheet, most of the “green” labelled file folders were much more popular than their “non-green” counterparts, and were surprisingly cheaper too. Also, almost all of the “green” products were made of some percentage of recycled and post-consumer products, and were also third-party certified. Therefore, in all the environmental, economic, and social aspects of the TBL, “green” file folders stands unanimously superior to their “non-green” counterparts. Based on this investigation, “green” labelled file folders did live up to their labels. Currently, UBC already follows a sustainable purchasing plan for office supplies that promotes green products. Therefore, it is highly recommended that UBC should continue to follow this plan, and purchase a lot more “green” file folders and a lot less “non-green” ones Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Text

University of British Columbia. APSC 261; UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0108801

Applied Science, Faculty of

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/