There was a little announcement in the Denver Post’s Colorado Business section about Staples making a $10,000 donation to Tree by Tree - Mile High Million to be used for planting trees in nine metro Denver communities.  It also mentioned Greenprint Denver - a group I had not heard of.  So…I Googled “Greenprint Denver.”  Turns out Greenprint Denver is “an action agenda for sustainable development for the City and County of Denver that demonstrates local government can be an effective force for innovation and leadership to improve the environment.”  On the home page, there was a prominent article about Staples.

Clicking on the learn more link, I got to the press release about Staples efforts.  “Greenprint Denver and Staples today announced a $10,000 donation to Tree by Tree - Mile High Million to be used for planting trees in nine metro Denver communities. To help raise the funds, 10 area Staples stores donated $1 of every purchase on Dec. 9 and 10. 

Staples really has made it easy for us to progress toward our goal of planting a million trees in metro Denver by 2025,” said Sara Davis, program coordinator for Tree by Tree - Mile High Million, a Greenprint Denver initiative. “This program is essential for promoting Colorado’s environmental and economic sustainability, and we are grateful to have partners like Staples who help us continue to grow.”

“Staples is committed to making it easy for our customers to make a difference for the environment - what we call EcoEasy,” said Mark Buckley, vice president of environmental affairs at Staples. “We’re proud to support Greenprint Denver in its mission to build a more sustainable Denver.”

So while not an example of support for a specific nonprofit, this effort shows Staples general support for the environment and the sustainability initiative of the City and County of Denver.  I wish I’d known before hand…I would have made sure to get any needed office supplies on one of the two days they gave a portion back.  Next time…  Maybe Staples could have sent an email to the local folks in its database to let us know or post a sign in the store.  I don’t know they didn’t post a sign as I was out of town those dates - however, remember if you are doing any special promotion like this and want to engage customers - be sure to let them know using various means!