Instrumart is Green(ish)
It is very popular to be "Green" these days, but what does that really mean?
Like any business, Instrumart has an impact on the environment... but we try hard to minimize that impact. We'll let you decide how "Green" we are. Here are some things we do every day at Instrumart. We welcome your feedback on how we can do better.
We re-use or recycle virtually all of the packaging material we receive. We sort and re-use almost all of the cushioning, peanuts, & foam that we receive. This dramatically reduces our need to buy new material. We re-use clean, undamaged boxes, and recycle the rest. Very little material from our shipping and receiving operation goes to the landfill.
The recycling doesn't end there. Throughout our building, we recycle clean paper & cardboard, most plastics (#1 through #7), glass bottles & jars, aluminum/steel/tin cans & foil, metal scrap, and clean wood. We also have a composting program to divert our kitchen waste from the landfill.
We make an effort to buy recycled products. The copy paper, paper towels, and facial & bathroom tissue we buy are made from 100% total recycled content. The cardboard boxes we buy are made from 30% total recycled content.
We properly dispose of hazardous materials. Sounds obvious, but most companies and consumers are not as careful as they think they are. We properly dispose of used electronics, batteries, solvents, fluorescent & compact fluorescent bulbs, and more.
A number of Instrumart's employees walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to work. We offer bike rack and shower facilities for cyclists and our office is convenient to the bus line. Instrumart is centrally located which minimizes commute time and fuel use for employees who drive.
We have dramatically reduced our use of paper. We no longer print or mail paper catalogs or other promotional materials. We send most customer paperwork (quotes, invoices, etc.) by email, unless a customer specifically requests a paper copy. We print double-sided. We save paper that has been printed on one side for in-house print jobs. We have "opted out" of most paper mailings to reduce the amount of "junk mail" we receive.
We heat our building & hot water with clean-burning natural gas. We hope to someday augment our heat & hot water needs with solar and/or wind power, but until then, natural gas is the least polluting of our fossil fuel choices.
Our electric is pretty green and pretty clean. Our electric is provided by Green Mountain Power. Only 2% of the power they sell comes from fossil fuels. None comes from coal. Half comes from hydro and another 43% comes from nuclear. Not bad.
Think we can do better? Please tell us how.
Questions?
Feel free to give us a call at 1-800-884-4967
