Reduce Paper Use Press Release

Techsoup Global Kicks Off New 'GreenTech' Initiative With Reduce Paper Use Challenge for Nonprofits

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 11, 2008 (AScribe Newswire) -- As part of its efforts to continually expand and improve services for its members, TechSoup Global, a leading provider of technology resources, information and support to social benefit organizations worldwide, has launched its GreenTech Initiative. The goal of the initiative is to increase environmental awareness and encourage better choice-making amongst nonprofit and social benefit organizations worldwide. GreenTech provides both information and opportunities for organizations to reduce their impact on the environment, starting with the currently running "Reduce Paper Use" Challenge.

       TechSoup Global's first environmental program, the GreenTech Initiative, builds upon the organization's groundbreaking work in computer recycling and reuse, expanding it to educate and support nonprofits' efforts toward "going green" in terms of technology usage. The program will supply nonprofits and NGOs with an expanded array of technology products and know-how required to save energy and optimize resources to minimize their environmental impact. The GreenTech pages of TechSoup Global's site feature blog posts, articles and research to help organizations in their efforts to become more green.

       "GreenTech is TechSoup Global's primary environmental initiative to address one of our organizational goals of promoting Green IT decisions that benefit individual organizations and the planet," said Jim Lynch, co-director of TechSoup Global's GreenTech Program. "We're expanding our very successful computer recycling and reuse programs because we wanted to devise a plan for organizations to help them truly commit to a greener lifestyle. It starts in the office. Even though nonprofits might not always have the resources to follow a full-blown green use program, they can take simple steps to save paper and electricity, which will help them do their good work while also saving money and reducing their carbon footprint."

       A March 2008 survey conducted by TechSoup Global found that while most nonprofits and social benefit organizations indicated they are very interested in implementing "green" practices, a surprising number of them say they don't have adequate information as to the best ways to carry out these practices. More than 65 percent of the survey respondents rated the current availability of information resources for green practices as either "unavailable" or "somewhat available." Further, more than 70 percent of organizations reported they are "interested" or "very interested" in products that reduce paper and electricity use, such as eco-printing software, low wattage computer equipment, reduced-toxics computer equipment and factory-refilled printer toner and ink.

       The GreenTech Reduce Paper Use Challenge is a fun and beneficial contest for organizations to take steps to reduce use of paper, since statistics show the average office worker uses 130 lbs. of paper per year. Suggestions include actions as simple as narrowing margins on documents and setting printers to print double-sided, to fostering a new mindset inside and outside the office by encouraging the use of sharing documents electronically, and when it is necessary to print documents, becoming more strident in paper recycling programs. You can find out more about the Reduce Paper Use Challenge here: http://www.techsoup.org/greentech/paper/ .

       To boost the Reduce Paper Use Challenge, GreenTech will award one organization that successfully completes the challenge a five-year, $10 per month credit to MyFax. MyFax is an Internet fax service that helps offices further reduce paper use by sending and receiving faxes electronically. To enter, organizations must take both the pre-survey and the post-survey, and send GreenTech their own brief paper use story. The winner will be chosen at random from amongst those organizations demonstrating a tangible decrease in paper use.

       Finally, TechSoup Global will participate in San Francisco's Green Festival as one of 11 companies invited to be part of Mozilla's "Green Pavilion." Billed as the nation's largest green consumer living event, the Green Festival takes place November 14th, 15th and 16th at the San Francisco Concourse Center. At the event, TechSoup Global will present more details on its GreenTech Initiative and the Reduce Paper Use Challenge.

       ABOUT TECHSOUP GLOBAL

       San Francisco-based TechSoup Global is one of the most comprehensive nonprofit technology resources in the world. It provides technology-related content, products, and community to NGOs across the globe, including the popular TechSoup.org nonprofit technology Web site. Its distribution service for technology product donations, TechSoup Stock, has served more than 87,000 organizations, distributed over 4.2 million software and hardware products, and enabled nonprofit donation recipients to save over $1.2 billion in IT expenses as of September 2008. Other programs include the NetSquared Initiative to help NGOs extend their reach and impact through cutting edge Web tools, and the TechSoup Global Network, whose goal is to build NGO capacity worldwide by extending TechSoup Global's services to all seven continents. TechSoup Global employs a staff of 170 and deploys a budget of US $22 million.