by Barbi Schulick ,Company Co-Founder and Director of Sustainability

You wouldn’t think a pen would matter that much, but when Sue showed me the recycled plastic ball point she recently sourced, it just about made my day. Sue has been on the hunt lately for eco-friendly office supplies and she was all aglow when she found this pen. I took a blue and a black to try.

I’m a pen freak. When I find one I like I hoard a few in my top drawer, have even gone so far as to label my favorites in case people get nervy and try to steal one on the fly. “Oh, can I borrow your pen?” doesn’t fall lightly on my ears. “Sure,” I answer, being well trained in office etiquette. But “You’d better return it,” can be read in my less than enthusiastic tone.

These babies rock! I happily twirled blue and black circles across my notebook (A Second Nature recycled notebook, of course.) Our last eco-pen, constructed of recycled paper, was too lightweight to give that satisfying heft. Old habits die hard, so I kept grazing from my stash of less ecologically sound stand-bys. Now I can love my pen and the planet too.

Sue isn’t the only one on a green rampage at New Chapter. Melinda sources everything from Wheatware forks to recycled-milk-jug picnic tables. She audits our energy use and waste footprint and she’s been known to nab pricey conference tables for a prayer at auctions. (Warning: don’t even think about requesting new office digs. Only used flies around here.) Melinda will greet you with a complimentary mug your first day on the job, so kiss goodbye to those disposable coffee cups. Chowing down at the monthly luncheon you’ll have Melinda to thank for the organic fare, but don’t let her catch you scraping leftovers into the paper bin. We’ve a Solar Cone composter sitting out in the field for that.

When I first asked Meg to put her thinking to the goliath of virgin corrugated cardboard we ran through each year, she returned with depressing news. No one, it seemed, offered an affordable solution to this eco-disaster. But her team kept trying and one day they presented the Rand-Whitney Closing the Loop system. Now your New Chapter product arrives in a box made from the corrugate of those we’ve received from suppliers, and then recycled for you. Our store display units are made from the same. Pretty cool, huh?

These stories make my heart sing. That’s no surprise since the heart is where I believe the environmental conscience resides. Our CEO, Tom Newmark, once told me that when he stands in the portion of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest we are helping to protect, he “can feel the earth’s joy.” When pressed to come up with my own definition of sustainability, it was my heart, not my head that led: Sustainability is the natural result of the heart’s intention to love people, planet and community. Upholding this vision is rarely as simple as sourcing a recycled pen. Business, by its very nature runs against the environmental grain, even when you’re dedicated to bringing the public the first whole food organic probiotic nutrients, and running a Demeter award winning Bio-dynamic farm. If you’re making stuff and shipping it, you’ll always be breaking some planetary rules. That’s why we’re continually assessing our transporting, packaging and sourcing practices, and working towards ever evolving improvements.

Our company sustainability mantra is Purple Loves Green. The New Chapter purple bar is everywhere you look around our Brattleboro, Vermont office and so are signs of greening. Just last week Sue unveiled a bulletin board pressed from old tires and Laurie purchased shelving made from the lumber of deconstructed buildings. Every time we log onto our website, we’re reminded that it’s solar run, thanks to Dan. Be the greening small or monumental, it counts around here, for every act to save the planet is a sign of our intention. It warms my heart.