Sustainability
Ask Your Account Manager About Any of These Options
100% Recycled Paper
In 2006 Creative Communications became the first Washington state agency to use 100% postconsumer waste recycled paper in all of our copy operations and across campus in the managed print program. Our recycled paper program has now protected forests across the planet for a decade and a half.
This year, we introduced a new type of paper to our copy centers. Tree Zero is the only 100% tree free, carbon netural paper brand in North America and is made from the byproduct of sugarcane crops. Tree Zero can be recycled like any other paper. Once again, we are the first Washington state agency to test this paper and integrate it into our production processes.
Falconboard® for Poster Printing
In 2017, Creative Communications poster shops switched from using non-recyclable foam boards, that took hundreds of years to biodegrade in a landfill, to using Falconboard exclusively. Falconboard provides a structurally sound surface for all types of mounted posters
- Falconboard is made from renewable forest products and post-consumer recycled fibers.
- Falconboard is completely recyclable.
UW Green Office Certificate
Creative Communications has achieved gold level in the University of Washington Green Office Certificate Program. This certification process evaluated our entire department’s dedication to sustainable practices in action areas such as energy conservation, green meetings, paper conservation, publications and marketing communications, purchasing, waste diversion, and transportation.
Paper Reduction Committee
Since 2010, this comittee has worked to reduce paper consumption by 30%, promote the use of 100% PCW recycled paper across the University of Washington, and ensure that 100% of copier/printer paper is recycled after use. The committee has developed tool kits for departments to use to increase their sustainable paper practices, championed the building of Managed Print Services, and communicated the University’s paper mission through programs like the Green Office certification program
Mailing Services Sustainability Programs
In 2015, Mailing Services won the Husky Green Award for deploying hybrid/electric trucks throughout their mail and package delivery program and for subscribing to a national junk mail program to reduce unnecessary paper use.
- 60 metric tons of carbon emissions have been eliminated from Mailing Services delivery program every year with the move from diesel trucks to hybrid/electric trucks.
In 2018, Mailing Services won the Husky Green Award again for the electronic assist bicycle program implemented across the Seattle campus. This program was funded by a grant from the Campus Sustainability Fund.
- Our delivery team has ridden over 100,000 miles on the electronic assist bicycles since the beginning of the program.
Learn more about the Campus Sustainablility Fund Grant and the powerful outcomes generated by the Mailing Services Bicycle Delivery Program.
Electronic Assist Bicycle Delivery Program
In the spring of 2017, Mailing Services was awarded a grant for $88,319 from the Campus Sustainability Fund to build a bicycle delivery program with electronic assist bicycles. By September 2018, five e-bikes had been sourced and ordered and the delivery routes that had traditionally been served with large cargo trucks were reworked to be bicycle deliveries instead.
- All Seattle campus locations are now being served by the e-bike program
- The bicycle team has travelled more than 17,000 miles since the beginning of the program
- Mailing Services has eliminated truck traffic for the delivery of on-campus mail and packages, which creates a more peaceful and safe environment for everyone
- During rush hour, deliveries are made faster than when they went in trucks
The partnership and funding through the Campus Sustainability Fund made this program a reality. Learn more about this student-led organization.
Husky Green Award Again!
In 2018, Mailing Services received its second Husky Green Award for the bicycle delivery program.