Big Green Breakthrough

  Office Depot sells recycled paper products in most stores and features a “green virtual office” webpage where you can view and click on green office supplies and equipment. 

What We Like:

* Dedicated Web Page -  Like Staples, Office Depot has a webpage, “Your Greener Office,” that is solely dedicated to green office products. The information listed for most products includes details like the amount of post-consumer recycled content a product contains, its total recycled content, if the product meets U.S. Government environmental standards, and other criteria.

* Recycling - Office Depot’s Tech Recycling Service provides a small ($5), medium ($10), or large box ($15) you can take home, fill with electronics you want to discard, and bring back to Office Depot for recycling. The company’s Tech Trade-in program gives customers store credits based on the value of the item they want to trade-in and includes MP3 players, LCD screens, and digital cameras.

* Green Catalog - Office Depot has also created its Fifth Green Book Catalog which provides contract organizations and institutions with purchasing options for over 3,000 green products, as well as tips and ideas for creating a green office.

What Could be Improved:

Green Products Link is Hard to Find:  The “Greener Office” link is buried on the bottom of the home page in fine print. Why doesn’t Office Depot put it in a bright green box in a more prominent position on the page?

Some “Green” Products Aren’t Very Green: The online list of environmentally-friendly products includes furniture, pens and other items that have no apparent environmental value.  Why include these in the “greener office” line if they’re not green?

Here’s how Office Depot compares to other office suppliers.

Next up: Office Max

Research by Sophia Bambalis