Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 83.26
Liaison Megan Litke
Submission Date Feb. 12, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

American University
OP-12: Office Paper Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.20 / 2.00 Emily Curley
Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainability

Criteria

Part 1

Institution has an institution-wide stated preference to purchase recycled content office paper.  This can take the form of purchasing policies, guidelines, or directives to purchase recycled content office paper. Policies and directives adopted by entities of which the institution is part (e.g. state government or the university system) may count for this credit as long as the policies apply to and are followed by the institution. 

Part 2

Institution purchases recycled content office paper. 


Applicability

This credit applies to all institutions. 


Scoring

Each part of the credit is scored separately.  Institutions may earn points based on the percentage of office paper expenditures that are made with recycled content (Part 2), regardless of whether they earn points for having an institution-wide stated preference for purchasing such products (Part 1). 

Part 1

0.5 points are awarded for having an institution-wide stated preference to purchase recycled-content office paper. 

Part 2

Up to 1.5 points are awarded for purchasing recycled-content office paper. 

Institutions earn the maximum of 1.5 points available for this part of the credit by purchasing exclusively 100 percent, postconsumer, recycled content office paper.  Incremental points are available based on the percentage of recycled content paper purchased.  For example, if 50 percent of all paper purchased was 100 percent recycled-content, institutions would earn 0.75 points (half of the points available for this credit). 


Measurement

Timeframe

Part 1

Report on current policies, directives, or guidelines.

Part 2

Report the most recent data available. 

Sampling and Data Standards

Part 1

Report on purchasing policies, directives or guidelines that apply to the entire institution. 

Part 2

Institutions may track purchases over a one-year time period or take a representative sample to determine the recycled content of office paper purchased.  When using a sample, institutions should strive to ensure that the sample recognizes seasonal and other variations that influence purchasing behavior. 

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.