Paper Products, Etc., 256 Winslow Way East
Article by Jon Quitslund
(Contact: jon at SustinableBainbridge dot net)
If you shop in Winslow, it’s likely that you’re in and out of Paper Products at least once a month – maybe it’s more like once a week. The store caters to all sorts of customers, offering one-stop shopping for many needs and whims. Whether you have a to-do list or just one reason for stopping in, you’ll get your business done and be pleasurably diverted in the process. And quite remarkably, the store’s main emphasis on supplying your desk and the business end of your life is only enhanced by the other well-selected goods (the “Etc.” in their name) to be found on the shelves.
Now I ask you: How much in the preceding paragraph would be true of your experience in one of the off-Island big box stores that sell paper products, office supplies, and the like?
It was in connection with the core business of Paper Products that I had a delightful and informative conversation recently with Joanna McLeod, the current owner, and Cindy Black, the store’s manager. Having heard that they had made a broad commitment to sustainability in their products and business practices, I wanted to see what the s-word means in their shop. What I learned proved to be worth sharing, and worthy of strong community support.
Paper Products is at the leading edge of the Bainbridge business community’s “Buy Local” initiatives. The staff are actively engaged in networking with other businesses to reduce waste and adverse environmental impacts, to support a local living economy, and to make their retail and commercial customers more aware of the consequences entailed in the choices they make as consumers.
The distinction between the retail and commercial parts of the business is where our conversation started. I learned that when Paper Products was first established, back in 1976, supplying other local businesses was a large part of the enterprise. That was before the high-volume corporate chains such as Staples and Office Max moved into suburban malls, offering goods in bulk, at bargain prices, to individuals and business customers of all sorts. Several years ago, pulling back from competition in the business-to-business market, Paper Products diversified to cater more effectively to the needs and whims of retail customers – not only the growing population of people with home offices, but families with children, and anyone for whom the Winslow Way location is a valuable convenience.
Now, without slighting the retail side of things, the managers of Paper Products have renewed their commitment to business-to-business products and services. They are doing so in a challenging environment, in recessionary times, with City Hall (an important customer) strapped for cash, with Winslow Way slated for its extreme makeover.
Along with their good green principles, there’s some business savvy at work in the shifts of emphasis that Cindy and Joanna explained to me. They are making environmentally responsible choices in the papers and other goods available to them now, and they find that customers are ready to follow if they will lead, as other green businesses are doing.
I was happy to hear that they are pragmatic and positive about the reconstruction of Winslow Way: it has to be done, and they won’t just suffer while others reap the benefits.
I was startled to learn that the building they rent is on a well, not on the City’s water system – yet another sign of how outmoded the Winslow Way infrastructure is. Nobody knows how much the street work will impact businesses (a lot depends on us citizens and our responses to inconvenience), but it’s clear already that cooperative relationships among the Winslow Way property owners and tenants will be essential to survival. A strong Sustainable Business Network is already taking shape, and Paper Products has an important role to play in that organization, which promises to produce long-term benefits for our local economy.
There is good evidence (statistics, economic models, and on-the-ground experience) that in places like Bainbridge Island, a shift of 10% in household budgets to local and independent businesses will produce a cascade of good effects within the community: job creation, economic growth, new businesses, environmental benefits, and more cohesive communities. (Of the many websites devoted to this development, www.10percentshift.org is the place to start if you’re interested in more information.) The point is not to buy more stuff, but to be more selective, and when you can, to spend disposable income closer to home.
When possible, the buyers for Paper Products shop locally for their merchandise. For example, they carry a line of products designed, manufactured, and marketed in Seattle by a firm, Sustainable Group, founded in 2003, dedicated to replacing things usually made of plastic and metal (binders, presentation folders, CD jewel cases) with better-designed products using recycled and recyclable materials.
As we talked about notebooks and the like, locally made with 100% recycled paper, I noticed that my stylish notepad (purchased at Paper Products, I must add) was Made in France. My next one will be a ReWrite Mini Notebook from Sustainable Group!