Does your establishment use plastic cutlery, maybe you run a greasy spoon, a supermarket cafe, or maybe you run a fast food chain? Alternatively you stock up on plastic cutlery for your own personal use, family parties (for when you don’t have enough silverware or to save on dishes) or even for picnics. Whatever it is you use plastic cutlery for it has to be said that we get through quite a few! However have you ever considered an alternative to the wasteful disposal of plastic knives, plastic forks and plastic spoons?

We have the perfect alternative for you that not only reaches the same qualities of standard plastic cutlery, but excels when it comes to environmentally friendliness. Take a look at our Sseco Cornstarch range of cutlery. We have a variety of cornstarch forks, cornstarch knives and cornstarch spoons here at LA Office, featured are our spoon variety.   

• Biodegradable corn-based spoons made from corn starch residues
• No actual food or corn is used in the product or manufacturing process
• Corn starch cutlery is as strong as plastic cutlery
• 70% compostable
• Resists temperatures of up to 145 degrees
• Packed 50
• £2.53 inc VAT for a pack of 50!

Why go for the wasteful plastic cutlery option when the friendlier alternative meets the same quality criteria and minimal prising. When you consider that on average every person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every three months, don’t you think we should all be doing our bit to reduce the amount we each individually dispose of? This is your opportunity to do your bit, and it doesn’t get much easier than this! It takes around 450 years for a plastic bottle to degrade, plastic cutlery is much the same, maybe it’s time you considered the cornstarch variety.

If you’re looking for an envelope to protect your important documents during transport, then look no further than Tyvek. Tyvek produce envelopes which are made of high density polyethylene and 100% recyclable. The polyethylene nature of these envelopes protects the documents within from moisture and spills however without the sacrifice to our environment! You can use and re-use your protective envelopes and then when you’re through with them, they can be safely incinerated! However if recycling or incineration are not options, your Tyvek envelopes can even be safely land filled, this is because they do not contain chemicals or binders and so will not leach into groundwater.

The DuPont Tyvek range is ideal for companies who regularly send out important and even legal documents, photographs even. They provide a safe way to send items such as birth, marriage and deed poll certificates, passports, driving licenses and other like documentation. Take a look at our Tyvek C4 Pocket Envelopes featured for example:

• The ultimate in strength and quality
• Distinctive look and feel
• Easy to print
• Tear, burst and water-resistant
• Up to three times lighter than equivalent packaging materials
• More economic to mail and cheaper to transport
• Sustainable – reduced waste, less energy consumption, less C02 emissions
• Re-usable and 100% recyclable
• Ideal for sending financial and annual reports, contracts and bulky or heavy items
• Peel and seal closure
• C4 Size - 324 x 229mm
• Packed 100
• £40.17 inc VAT

The Green Bit

Since 1990, DuPont has reduced their global greenhouse gas emissions measured as CO2 equivalents by 72%! By 2015, they intent to further reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15% from a base year of 2004.  DuPont commits to reducing water consumption by at least 30% over the next ten years at their global sites that are located where the renewable freshwater supply is either scarce or stressed as determined by the United Nations analysis of river basins globally.  For all other sites, DuPont will hold water consumption flat on an absolute basis through the year 2015, offsetting any increased demand from production volume growth through conservation, reuse and recycle practices.  Effective immediately, DuPont will introduce fleet vehicles that represent the leading technologies for fuel efficiency and fossil fuel alternatives.  By 2015, they will ensure that 100% of their off-site fleet of cars and light trucks meet these criteria.  They will continue to ensure these vehicles are safe as well as fuel efficient, and will track and report on their fuel efficiency improvements. Since 1990, DuPont has reduced their global air carcinogen emissions by 92%, well beyond legal requirements. By 2015, they will further reduce their air carcinogen emissions by at least 50% from a base year of 2004.  This will bring their total reductions since 1990 to 96%!  

When it comes to envelopes, most of us tend to pop down to our local post office or newsagent and buy a pack that seems to look the appropriate size. Because of this, the majority of us tend not to understand the envelopes sizes and wouldn’t have a clue which envelope size they normally buy or what the other sizes are. However this could pose a problem if you’re buying your envelopes online and when ordering a business’s envelopes for the year ahead; you wouldn’t want to make any mistakes there! Luckily for you there is a simple envelope size guide online which is a site dedicated to giving you all the information you could need about envelopes in a straight forward and easy to understand way.

Most envelopes fall into the C series, which is defined by ISO 216 and are given names such as C4 (one of the more popular sizes), C5, C6 and so on. However one of the most widely used business envelopes is the DL size which has a format that does not fit into C series sizes, in fact it has a different aspect ratio altogether. The DL envelope originated in Germany back in the 1920’s where it was then known as DIN Lang. We now understand the abbreviation to stand for ‘Dimension Lengthwise’. This size is of course included and defined in the ISO standards for envelope sizes, as the most popularly used envelope size, it would have been negligent to exclude it!

Using DL Size Envelopes is considered to be the most professional way to mail a business document. Its contents – normally an A4 document – will need to be folded into 3 equal sections parallel to its shortest sides in order to fit into the envelope. The DL envelope measures 110 x 220 mm or 4⅓” x 8⅔” and a great example of a good quality DL envelope is the Basildon Bond Recycled DL Envelopes featured.

• Basildon Bond Envelopes
• Small packs, ideal for the small or home office
• Made from 100% recycled paper
• Window is made from corn (not petrochemicals) which is fully biodegradable and can be put in the paper recycling waste
• 100gsm
• White
• Wallet Style
• Peel & Seal
• Size: DL 110 x 220mm
• Boxed 100
• Just £4.44 inc VAT!

The Green Bit

All the paper used in some of their ranges are from UK paper mills, from 100% recovered material. The white envelopes all use a 100gsm paper that is exceptionally smooth and white, and the manilla use 90gsm paper. In addition, the window film, while perfectly clear, is 100% biodegradable, made remarkably from corn not petrochemicals. This also means that even the window envelopes in the range can be included in any paper recycling.

All their white envelopes feature a subtle green opaque with the recycled symbol.

A filing tray in an innovative tool used in most offices and home office across the globe. They make an excellent organisational tool allowing you to file your paper work at arm’s reach; top tray = attention needed, middle tray = resolved, bottom tray = awaiting reply etc. You get the idea, projects and accounts that you are or have recently been working on can be close to hand so that you can immediately attend to them should the need arise. This then allows you o show off your most proficient customer service and organisational skills. Letter trays make the filing and storage of letters or papers very easy to manage and keep the clutter off your desk. Our variety is available in several different styles and from various brands, the most popular brand being Multiform. Multiform filing trays make organising your desk much easier as well as improving the look of your work environment.

Take a look at our Multiform ExaModulo Filing Unit featured to your right. This filing unit is made using partially recycled materials and has a very useful 10 drawers!

• Made from lightweight, strong, recycled polystyrene
• Removable index tabs for easy identification
• Drawer cut outs allow easy access
• 10 Drawer Set
• Over £30 off the RRP – Now just £78.08 inc VAT!

Multiform are part of the Exacompta Clairefontaine Group. The Multiform division have been around since 1839 and are one of the leading manufacturers of office products from plastics for the international market. Multiform, for more than 30 years has been a name which represents quality and functionality of the highest level. It has become so popular that the brand is now distributed world-wide in more than 35 countries!

The Green Bit

By purchasing Exacompta products, consumers can do their bit to protect the environment for which they are becoming increasingly concerned. For many years Exacompta has incorporated environmental policies into the design of their products. Each stage of the finished product is taken into account, from selecting the pulp and the production process, right through to the final procedures. As far as the group is concerned, environmental protection is part of a policy which applies right across the board, just like achieving quality standards. Exacompta’s environmental strategy also focuses on forest management and reducing greenhouse gases and the environmental undertaking forms a basis for its industrial policy. The group is ISO 14001-certified for its production of different papers and the manufacture of stationery articles. The group owns and maintains hundreds of hectares of fir and spruce trees in the Vosges department. It uses these woodland areas to carry out tests to find the most environmentally-friendly management procedures possible.