Hill grows greener

The House Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is trying to make the Hill more environmentally friendly by selling only 100 percent post-consumer wastepaper at the House Office Supply Store.

{mosads}“This program is one of the things that we wanted to do for the Greening of the Capitol [Initiative] — to integrate sustainability efforts in the worklife of people on the Hill,” Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard said.

Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) purchased the first case of recycled paper Wednesday.
“All too often, the attitude on Capitol Hill is ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ Now, our actions are finally catching up with our words,” Farr said via e-mail.

Customers no longer will be able to buy non-recycled paper in the store, although it will be available online. The move will have a major impact because only 5 percent of consumers go online to buy copy paper, CAO spokesman Jeff Ventura said.

The store sells about 70 million sheets of copy paper a year, the deputy director of Greening of the Capitol office, Perry Plumart, said. According to officials with the Greening of the Capitol project, using the recycled paper will save more than 29,000 trees and 3.5 million gallons of water and prevent the creation of nearly 400,000 pounds of solid waste.