In keeping with The University of Prince Edward Island's commitment to "green" the campus, the University has adopted an Environmentally Friendly Paper Policy that requires 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Paper for all black and white printing on campus effective April 1, 2008. 

The University of Prince Edward Island is the first University in Eastern Canada to mandate the use of 100% PC Recycled paper. There is a small cost premium presently to printing on recycled paper but this can be managed through the reduction of paper usage across campus. 

In addition to the 100% PC Recycled Paper requirement, the University will target a reduction in paper consumption campus wide by 20% within 3 years and 30% within 5 years.    

If you have ideas to help us reduce our paper usage further, please send them along and we'll share them with the rest of campus. 

How does this benefit the environment?

Compared to current average annual usage on campus, switching to 100% recycled paper and reducing our paper consumption by 30% will reduce the amount of raw materials used in paper production by: 122 tonnes of wood, 291,500 kWh of energy, 55,413 kilograms of GHGs, 1,746,435 litres of water and 25,595 kilograms of solid waste.

What can you do?

The following are some suggestions to help reduce paper consumption on campus: 

• Enable duplex printing when printing and copying.
• Use decreased margins on all documents.
• Use electronic distribution for documents, notes, memorandums, etc. 
• Allow and encourage students to submit double-sided assignments.
• Allow web based assignments (where possible).
• Post syllabi, notes and notices in a way that reduce the over consumption of paper (e.g. post PowerPoint slides six to a page).

Contact the Sustainability & Energy Management office for more information.