Spotlight on... Rice Studio Supply
GP: How green are your products - what green products/components do you offer?
RSS: Packaging is a huge consumer of resources. There is cheap, one use, throw away packaging and there are higher quality products with an element of style that will be kept and reused many times. As a distributor, we sell both, but our emphasis is always on the higher quality, sustainably sourced products.
RSS has sold some recycled paper packaging for more than twenty years. Over the past five years we have been actively seeking greener products to offer our customers a choice. Our earth-friendly product line now includes 100% Recycled bags, portrait cases, cd sleeves, folders and easels. Our black album and frame bags are RPET fabric, made from plastic water bottles --- a huge garbage problem for the third world. ECO CLEAR BAGS are made from plants and are certified compostable. The Green Photo Album by General Products was the first 100% recycled content photo album available in the photographic industry. Album pages are made from 100% post consumer content and are processed chlorine free, acid free and lignin free.
Our greatest impact has probably been to push our manufacturers to incorporate more recycled materials. For example, we insisted our newest color of Portrait Case be 100% recycled. It took two years to find the right paper, but it is now used by TAP for multiple catalog items as well as the custom products they make for us.
GP: How green is your business - what green business practices do you embrace?
RSS: RSS is based in Oregon where the nation’s first bottle recycling law was passed. Stewardship/ Respect for the environment is part of our corporate culture/mindset. You’ll notice the variety of shipping cartons we use to pack orders. Reuse is more efficient than recycling! We participate in community recycling programs, purchase wind power and use florescent lighting. Even though we are in a leased building, with the help of an Oregon Energy Tax Credit, we were able to upgrade insulation in our office space and reduce heating costs by 60%.
Rush orders via air freight are discouraged as the energy wasted eats up months of savings. Placing larger orders with sufficient time helps us keep your cost and energy usage down. Many items are drop shipped directly from the manufacturer, eliminating double shipping.
The RSS web shopping cart and email newsletters have replaced our printed catalogue and saved huge resources in printing and mailing materials. Bottom line---green business is good business!
GP: Why did you choose to offer green products and implement green business practices?
RSS: There is a connectedness to everything on this planet that must be respected.
GP: How has offering green products and implementing green business practices affected your company?
RSS: The key to any good business is responding to your customers changing needs. About five years ago we heard your requests for greener products and decided to be a market leader rather than a follower. There are several distribution companies like ours in the photographic industry. Our Eco friendly line has helped set us apart.
GP: What are your hopes for a greener photographic industry?
RSS: RSS would like to see the industry become fully sourced from sustainable materials. We think that everyone will agree that extending the product life cycle is the highest environmental use.
GP: What is your favorite eco website or eco-product that we may not have heard of?
Thanks so much to Scott Rice of Rice Studio Supply for taking the time to answer our questions!
Special Offer: 20% discount for GP members till July 31, 2010! Contact us for your coupon code. 30% off GP certification for Rice clients with code RICESUPPLY.
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