In the next year, Notre Dame will have the power to save the equivalent of 18 trees, water from 130 showers and 453 gallons of gasoline ⎯ all by switching to recycled paper.
Office of Sustainability Programs Manager Erin Hafner said the change, which will begin Nov. 1 and take full effect Jan. 1, 2012, is part of an initiative several years in the making.
"We asked about this change a couple of years ago, but it wasn't feasible," she said. "When the Office of Public Affairs and Communications changed the Notre Dame brand standards, we saw this as an opportunity to update the paper."
The change will affect University letterheads, business cards, envelopes and other paper items printed from Express Press, a South Bend printer. As a result of an agreement between the University, the printer and the paper supplier, the change will come with zero cost increase, Hafner said.
"We pick and choose our initiatives based on the greatest impact," she said. "This is a centralized change."
Javier Hernandez, a procurement specialist who worked on the project, said Express Press was an excellent partner to work with on the change.
"Express Press made this transition easy," Hernandez said. "We're trying to be a leader with this initiative," he said.
Hernandez said the stationary will look slightly different. Although the paper will still come from the current stationary provider, Neenah Paper, the new stock will be a brighter white than the current stock.
In an announcement through Procurement Services, Hafner said Neenah Paper advocates the green sentiments of its paper products through its company practices.
"Neenah Paper is truly dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint," she said in the announcement.
"They generate their own hydroelectric power at their mills in Wisconsin and Germany, they are one of the largest purchasers of [independently certified] renewable energy in Wisconsin and they are putting major efforts into energy conservation. As a result, their North American mills have cut their [carbon dioxide] emissions almost in half over the last decade."
According to the announcement, six out of seven Neenah Paper company mills have achieved a company-wide goal of zero landfill waste.
