Nov. 14, 2008 - Office Depot racked up $1.6 billion in green product sales last year, according to the company's latest sustainability report. Office Depot attributes the strong sales numbers to profile-raising initiatives such as the company's popular Green Book product catalog and its "Greener Office" marketing platform. Sales of environmentally preferable products featured in the Green Book grew by more than 10% in 2007, from $660 million to $730 million.

Deciding which attributes to focus on for their Green Office line, how to label these products, and how to communicate the benefits of them to customers has been part of a robust internal conversation for some time. Director of Environmental Strategy, Yalmaz Siddiqui will be speaking about this journey at Sustainable Brands International in Miami Beach, FL, on Wednesday, December 10th.

The company also reports building its online customer base through green solutions offered on its websites. Office Depot UK, for example, now offers an online carbon calculator that helps calculate the carbon reduction and other green benefits of recycled content papers. Office Depot will continue to invest in user-oriented online tools to help customers identify greener products, the company says.

In addition, Office Depot last year launched a strategic move toward providing business solutions as well as products, piloting a range of technology services including computer repairs, wireless network installation, and software and television installation. "These solutions help 'dematerialize' our revenue sources and reduce our environmental impact," the company explains in its report.

Other milestones include:

Expanding its Tech Recycling Service to outlets across the U.S. Switching to 32% post-consumer recycled paper for internal use Reducing absolute greenhouse gas emissions associated with U.S. transportation activities by 9.6% Diverting from landfill nearly 50% of waste materials generated by North American operations

To view Office Depot s 2008 sustainability report, click here.