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Office Depot Survey: 82% Recycle Cartridges

January 14, 2008

Office Depot is helping its customers achieve a more sustainable 2008 with a variety of products and services. According to a recent Office Depot survey, many business professionals and consumers are already taking steps to be more environmentally friendly, including recycling ink and toner and using energy saving lightbulbs. Additionally, Office Depot found that 79 percent of respondents consider themselves at least moderately green - meaning they try to reduce, reuse and recycle when they are able to.

The Office Depot survey also found the following:

• 85% of respondents claim to already use energy saving lights, such as Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs);
• 82% recycle their ink and toner cartridges;
• 76% use refillable products, such as pens and pencils; and
• 65% use both sides of the paper for copying and printing.

"An environmentally-preferable office and home are very attainable for today's business professionals and consumers especially with the guidance of Office Depot's Greener Office(TM)," said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Environmental Strategy Advisor for Office Depot. "Simple changes such as switching to recycled paper, printing on both sides of the page, recycling empty ink and toner cartridges, replacing incandescent lights with CFLs and recycling old technology can help anyone improve their sustainability in 2008."

Office Depot offers simple tips to help your home and office:

• Look Back, Then Forward. Take a moment to review your achievements from 2007 and see where your business has had the greatest environmental impact (i.e. increased green purchasing, reduction in overall waste, decreased energy and fuel usage, etc.). Determine where there is room for improvement and where to put your focus in 2008.
  
  
• Buy Green. Whether purchasing products for the office, home or even the classroom, customers have more choices than ever when it comes to green products. Recycled content paper and chairs, CFLs, Energy Star-rated electronics, non-toxic cleaning supplies, and biodegradable packing peanuts are all products that are readily available as green options. For a list of green products, visit www.officedepot.com/buygreen.
  
  
• Recycle and Reuse. Recycling has never been so convenient. Look for opportunities to recycle paper, cell phones, ink and toner cartridges and technology. Office Depot offers an in-store Tech Recycling Service that accepts monitors, laptops, computer peripherals and even items such as DVD players and small televisions. For a complete list of acceptable products, visit www.officedepot.com/techrecycling.
  
  
• Power Down. Turn off the lights when a room is not in use. Unplug the cell phone charger, shredder or any other office electronic when not utilizing it. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75% of the energy used to power electronics in the home is consumed while the products are turned off. Simple behavior changes like these can both conserve energy and reduce electricity costs.

For more information on Office Depot's environmental initiatives and to view the Company's recently published Corporate Citizenship Report, visit www.officedepot.com/corporatecitizenship. To view the Office Depot Greener Office, visit: http://mediarelations.officedepot.cc/environment/green-office.asp.

About the Survey: The Office Depot Survey was designed to gain insights into consumers' and business professionals' feelings towards "green" products. The online poll surveyed 358 people from September 14-28, 2007.