Eco-friendly office supplies, pens and markers
Creators: name: Shin (Martin), Eunseo
name: Ye, Henry
name: Chan, Justin
name: Bhatti, Rohaan
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2015

description: The objective of our eco-friendly office supplies project is to review and determine whether eco-friendly advertised office supplies are truly environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable or just one of many tools designed as a means of marketing strategy. In addition, the recommendation should be made in conclusion. By using triple bottom line on these projects, environmental, economic, and social aspects are taken into account in detail. Our team is responsible for analyzing pens and markers in specific. We defined eco-friendly office supplies by products that include refillable, recycled material, and less plastic used advertisements. Although the impact of using eco-friendly pens and markers is subtle, the disparity of impact is going to be enormous if it is purchased in a large quantity. In the environmental aspect, eco-friendly logos are mainly focused in order to find out authentic eco-friendly products. Authentic environmentally sustainable logos should have third party verifications. Third party organizations such as Cradle to Cradle, Staples Eco Easy, and the Environmental Choice Program assess verification in a five level. In the economic aspect, the price of regular pens and eco-friendly pens are compared, and as expected, the price of regular pens and eco-friendly products are generally more expensive than regular pens by 120% ~ 140%. The source of products are all from UBC Bookstore and Staples on Allison Road. Among 6 different companies, the company named Zebra has the least price difference in Z-Grip type eco and regular pens. In contrast, Pilot has the highest price differences. However, it should be noted that the price differences are not accurate since each product has different features like gel, retractable, and erasable types. In the social aspect, transparency of each company on their eco-friendly office supplies information are analyzed. Through visiting the companies' websites, we conclude that Staedtler, Zebra, and Pilot have relatively higher transparency in revealing eco-friendly products' information. Staedtler even added why they are putting so much efforts on their environmentally sustainable office supplies. Zebra included the instruction on how to refill ink cartridges on their main page of the website. Our team conducted 50 sample sized survey that consists of a total of 3 questions in the social analysis. 50 sample sizes are all based on UBC undergraduate students, and the purpose of this survey is to obtain a general idea on how UBC students think of sustainability in office supplies. 34 students, 68% are willing to buy an eco-friendly pen even if it's slightly expensive than just a regular pen. In question 2, 16 students, 32% are willing to buy an eco-friendly product rather than a regular pen that has a special feature. Lastly, only 28 students, 56% trust an eco-friendly advertisement sign on product. It is apparent that there should be inclusive and reliable eco-friendly information on office supplies in order to gain support in an environmentally sustainable manner. According to the social aspect, Staedtler has the most reliable environmentally sustainable office supplies; however, their products in UBC Bookstore and Staples are much more expensive in relation to other eco-friendly products. Therefore, our team recommends Zebra's $1.45 Z-Grip eco pen since it only differs by 20 cents from their regular pen. They also explicitly provide eco-friendly products' information on their website. 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.”