City of Sunnyvale

Why Buy Recycled?
Recycling begins when material is collected for recycling. The collected materials are then manufactured into new products. When you purchase those recycled-content products, you are closing the loop by bringing materials full circle from old product to new product! Look for products labeled as recycled and made with a high post-consumer content. Post-consumer waste is waste from products that were used, collected from the consumer, and then recycled into a new product. By buying recycled content products you help to preserve natural resources, reduce energy use & pollution, create markets for recyclables and minimize the impact of your activities on the environment.

Environmentally-preferable Paper
Most office supply companies offer recycled-content copy paper of the same quality and at a comparative price to non-recycled copy paper. Check with your office supplier and buy the highest post-consumer recycled content (30% at minimum). Your company can also join the Recycled Paper Purchasing Cooperative at no cost and take advantage of their reduced prices on recycled paper.

For a more environmentally-friendly recycled copy paper, choose one that is processed chlorine free (PCF). Conservatree has an extensive list of recycled copy papers and identifies those that are PCF.

Recycled-content Office Supplies
Most of the office products that you use at work (e.g. copier paper, disks, toner cartridges, and tissue paper) are available with recycled content. When ordering products look for the chasing arrow symbol next to the product descriptions in a catalog, check the label or ask your office supply store to identify recycled content options before you buy. There are also companies that focus on "green" office supplies such as:

The California Integrated Waste Management Board's Recycled-Content Products Database also contains over 3,000 companies and 6,500 recycled-content products. The database is searchable by product/brand name, company, or keyword, and specific percentages of recycled-content.

Recycled Content Promotional Materials
Your company can purchase recycled-content promotional items, including clothing, caps, cloth bags, water bottles, and pens/pencils, from companies such as the following:

3M Promotional Markets
Post-it notes, Post-it fax notes

Adapt Consulting, Inc.
T-shirts, calendars, key rings, mouse pads, mugs, rubber stamps, bookmarks, yo-yo's,
and magnets

Amazing Recycled Products, Inc.
T-shirts, notepad dispensers, piggy banks, mugs, and tape dispenser/rulers (from reclaimed denim, U.S. Currency or newspaper!)

Aurora Glass
Recycled-glass suncatchers, candle holders, ornaments, vases and more

Christopher Pierce Enterprises Bookmarks, piggy banks, circuit board binders & clipboards and bicycle accessories

The Cloth Bag Company Shopping bags

Clothes Made from Scrap
t-shirts, jackets, vests, shorts, aprons, caps, and tote bags

Morningstar Trading Co.
Tote bags, caps, lunch totes, t-shirts, fleece vests and jackets

Discovering the World
Frisbee®s

Fire and Light
Recycled glass plaques, dishware (etching available)

Green Earth Office Supply
Hemp bags, pens, pencils, computer circuit clocks and business card holders

Impression Holding Co. Ltd.
T-shirts, mugs, rulers, circuit board
bookmarks and clipboards

Millikin Screenpainting
T-shirts, tote bags and hats printed with water-based inks and soy solvents on organic cotton and fair trade materials.

Patagonia
Fleece jackets, vests, and pullovers

The Real Earth, Inc.
Recycled circuit board items, tree-less paper gift sets, and pens

Printable Promotions
Clipboards, coasters, notepads, mousepads, pens, pencils, circuit board money clips and clocks, mugs and more (search: recycled).

Right Impressions
(408) 370-7812
email
Pencils (from reclaimed denim, U.S. Currency or cardboard!), shoelaces (from soda bottles!), t-shirts, polar fleece, caps, magnets, biodegradable plastic bags, yo-yos, frisbees, bumper stickers, corrugated buttons, binders.

Safe Designs
Recycled glass products, computer circuit board clipboards, license plate notebooks, pencils (reclaimed denim and U.S. Currency)

Signature Marketing
Tote bags, shirts, fleece jackets and vests, bike bottles, thermal mugs, pens and pencils (from reclaimed denim and U.S. Currency)

Stan Miller and Associates
Watches, picture frames, business card holders, letter openers, frisbees, and water bottles

Weisenbach Specialty Printing, Inc.
Pens, caps, t-shirts, calendars, key chains, buttons, water bottles, frisbees, and funnels

Recycled-Content Office Furniture

Baltix Furniture
Long Lake, MN
Products: workstations, filing systems, tables and partitions.
Materials: wheat straw, sunflower hulls, soy flour, recycled plastic, newsprint and aluminum. No harmful adhesives, formaldehydes or VOCs are used in its manufacturing process.
Clients include the University of Minnesota.
Studio eg
Oakland, CA
Products: work stations, shelving, tables
Materials: recycled rubber, cardboard, recycled agricultural waste fiber, like wheat, rice or flax.
Clients include the City of Oakland, City of San Francisco, and New York's MTV studios.

For further resources, please visit our Buy Recycled Links.

*The listing of companies does not constitute an endorsement by the City of Sunnyvale.