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200 • Green Project Management

Being green
Again, Office Depot has three aspects to their program: (1) reducing
wastes and recycling, (2) reducing energy and greenhouse gases from
their facilities and greening their building, and (3) reducing fuel and
greenhouse gases from their transportation. They also realize that while
some efforts require initial investment, there is payoff at the back end,
like reduced energy costs that, in the long run, can significantly increase
their bottom line.
As a major retailer, Office Depot generates an abundance of paper and
corrugated cardboard. They have put significant effort into their recycling
efforts and achieved the following:

• Increased recycling of paper and cardboard by 21% from 19,000 tons
to 23,000 tons
• Implemented basic paper recycling at all stores where they have
back haul to cross-dock (the ability to unload incoming materials
and directly load them on outgoing transport without storage in
between)
• Rolled out an innovative fixture refurbishment and reuse program
through which, they estimate, they reused over 1,800 tons of store
fixtures; also started buying refurbished shopping carts for use in
their stores

What accomplished these results? Is it the driving vision of leadership?
Yes. But also, important to note, projects, and of course, project manag-
ers who were able to draw their authority from that enterprise vision.
Not counting their fixture reuse program, Office Depot has recycled over
26,000 tons of material and continues to find ways to increase that effort.
There are two ways to improve the greenness of one’s facilities: reduce
energy and GHGE from existing buildings, and build greener new build-
ings. Office Depot has done both. In 2007 they joined the U.S. Green
Building Council (USGBC), the first office supply products company to
do so, and also joined the LEED for Retail Prototype pilot, a program for
retailers who plan to pursue certification across multiple locations, not
just one. In 2008 they opened their first LEED Gold–certified retail opera-
tion in Austin, Texas, which was designed to use less energy and water in
the daily operations and leave a much smaller environmental footprint.