Choose your Office Products carefully by looking out for the different logos

Recycled Content – If a green office stationery supplies product is partly or fully made with recycled materials, the green logo and percentage of recycled content are displayed.

Nordic Swan – The Swan is the official Nordic Eco-label, introduced by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The Swan logo demonstrates that a green office product is a good environmental choice. The Nordic Eco-labeling criteria are based on evaluation of the environmental impacts during the life cycle of the product.  The inks are alcohol-based or water-based and are not hazardous to health or environment. There are also no chlorinated plastics or heavy metals in the products.

Green Dragon – An environmental green management system relevant to the specific needs of the manufacturer. Participating organisations gain recognition for effective environmental management without necessarily adopting a formal management system. The standard is made up of five steps each incorporating the key elements of Planning, Taking Action, Checking Progress and Reviewing Achievements to realise continual environmental improvement.

FSC – The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international network to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC brings people together to find solutions to the problems created by bad forestry practices and to reward good forest management. FSC policies and standards aim to make the greatest possible contribution to forest stewardship worldwide. FSC works to be recognised as the global centre of excellence in the development of international standards for forest certification.

TCO – TCO Development is a company dedicated to achieving a more green environmentally friendly workplace.To qualify, products must have low emissions, meet ergonomic design criteria and have minimal environmental impact.

The Green Dot (Der Grüne Punkt) – The manufacturers of these products have paid for the collection, sorting and recycling of the product’s packaging. Most packaging is only used once, but this does not mean that it automatically becomes waste. The valuable raw materials from which packaging is produced can be used to manufacture new products. Since 1990, the Green Dot has been making sure that used packaging is collected, sorted and recovered in line with the German Packaging Ordinance.

Fairtrade – This is an independent consumer label that guarantees a better deal for workers and producers from poor and developing countries, ensuring that workers receive a fair wage to invest in the future. Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional international trade. It is trading which aims at sustainable development for excluded and disadvantaged producers. It seeks to do this by providing better trading conditions, by raising awareness and by campaigning.

The Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) - An alliance of major tea packing companies work together to promote social responsibility in the world tea trade and ensure the ethical sourcing of tea. ETP defines ethical trade as a shared responsibility to ensure that the social and ethical conditions involved in growing the tea that its members buy meets, at a minimum, local laws, trade union agreements and some international standards and to encourage improvements where needed. It does this through independent monitoring of six key areas of tea estate life: employment (including minimum age and wage levels), education, maternity, health and safety, housing and some areas of basic rights.