Supplies and Delivery - the Eco-Friendly Way

UPDATE: ALTHOUGH WALDECK'S IS NO LONGER OPEN FOR BUSINESS, THEIR ACTIONS ARE INSPIRING TO SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS STILL TO COME (AUGUST 2016)

Not only does this store offer 6,000 environmentally responsible ‘green’ office products, but it also implements sustainable practices in-house. Waldeck’s Office Supplies For a Small Planet president, Cliff Waldeck, is “a vocal supporter of climate friendly legislative initiatives and policies and promoter of San Francisco’s environmental programs,” according to Jennifer Kass of the Business Council on Climate Change. Waldeck is deeply involved in environmental issues and is truly dedicated to greening his business and the office supplies industry. Waldeck has implemented a variety of environmentally- friendly policies at his business, including: reducing delivery truck use, composting and recycling materials, reusing packaging, renting a ‘green’ certified building, utilizing an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) policy, and conserving and reducing energy use. Waldeck’s offsets any remaining emissions through a partnership with 3Degrees, a national provider of climate solutions based in San Francisco. Their purchase of 14,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of Green-e™ Certified Renewable Energy Certificates supports new wind energy facilities located across the nation and prevents about 6.8 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the earth's atmosphere annually.

What Action Did Waldeck’s Take to Drive Less?

As a small business, Waldeck’s has very few carbon emissions from driving and 3 of their 4 employees either walk or take public transportation to work. To reduce emissions, Waldeck’s distributes offices supplies to customers that live or work within 1 mile of their office by “hand truck,” which is entirely on foot. Though it is difficult to quantify the exact emissions for inner-city delivery by truck, they estimate this distribution saves at least 595 pounds of carbon emissions per year.

What Actions Did Waldeck’s Take to Buy Green?

In addition to using Energy Star rated appliances, Waldeck’s offers customers over 6,000 environmentally responsible ‘green’ office products online and in store. They prefer to stock the green version of a product (if one is available), so over 80% of the office supplies available in the store are green. Waldeck‘s also gives clients a free Energy Star qualified CFL bulb with every in store purchase, giving away an estimated 300 packs per year. This saved clients approximately $82,000 in life cycle energy costs. It also reduced their energy usage by 540,000 kWh and prevented 831,600 lbs of carbon from being emitted.

What Actions Did Waldeck’s Take to Cut Waste?

Waldeck’s re-uses first and then recycles all packaging that comes into the business. They participate in their building’s recycling and composting program and have very minimal waste. They also offer their customers free in store recycling of cell phones, batteries, laser and inkjet cartridges.

What Actions Did Waldeck’s Take to Save Energy?

Waldeck’s choose to rent from an Energy Star rated building that is working toward LEED-EB certification, and they turn of their lights and HVAC whenever the store is not in use. They also worked with the San Francisco city’s Energy Watch program to replace T12 and incandescent lighting with T8 and CFL lighting, resulting in an annual savings of over $350 in energy expenses.

Waldeck’s Office Supplies has not only helped other offices green their businesses, but they’ve set the standard for green office practices. Waldeck's enthusiastically takes a continuing advocacy role in the development and implementation of best green business practices in their supply chain.