This year, Grand & Toy began upstream in our supply chain to determine how best to choose supplier partners that embrace our vision of sustainability and are willing to make changes that align with our Sustainability Pillars.

As an OfficeMax company, Grand & Toy benefits from our parent company's commitment to ethical sourcing. Each year, the OfficeMax Global Sourcing Office reviews the manufacturers that produce Grand & Toy branded products. In 2010, a total of 23 audits were conducted to ensure our suppliers' compliance with the SA8000 standard. SA8000 is a global standard for decent working conditions developed and overseen by Social Accountability International. Based on the results of our audits, we chose not to do business with some manufacturing facilities. They will be required to complete an action plan before Grand & Toy reinitiates business with them.

In addition to formal audits and inspections, Grand & Toy continued to roll out our Partner Code of Conduct, which was introduced in 2009, to our North American partners. The Code was developed according to international best practices and it encourages our suppliers to improve their operations in four key areas: health & safety, the environment, ethics, and labour and human rights. By the end of 2010, 78% of Grand & Toy's North American suppliers had voluntarily signed the Partner Code of Conduct, committing to action and compliance.

We were also able to identify more environmentally preferable products and solutions to offer our customers. During the year, we revised the criteria for the "environmentally preferable" designation on our products to require at least one of the following: a minimum content of 30% post-consumer waste, a third-party environmental certification, or some other sustainability attribute (e.g., made with less input materials than traditional alternatives). These criteria provide the indicators for environmentally preferable products, which in 2010 made up 26% of all products in our ordering guide.

With an increased focus on environmental sustainability by our suppliers and manufacturers, we were also able to innovate. This year, Grand & Toy and a few of our customers participated in a unique program that will have a positive impact on the other end of the supply chain – a pen recycling program with renowned eco-products company, Terracycle, and one of our major suppliers, Newell Rubbermaid. Through this program, old and unwanted pens are collected and recycled or "upcycled" into quality consumer goods, from tote bags and purses to shower curtains and kites. Every Newell Rubbermaid brand writing instrument collected generates a two-cent donation towards a charity of choice.