An article in Sustainable Life Media (http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/news_and_views/articles/office-depot-rolls-out-greener-deliveries?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=brandsweekly&utm_campaign=august8) describes Office Depot’s delivery option to customers – receive supplies in paper bags with over 40 % recycled content – transported in plastic reusable totes with 60 % recycled plastic.  The goal is to replace 5 million boxes with bags in one year, thus saving about 20,000 trees.  Is this approach to reducing waste – by customizing delivery processes to shipper choices – an optimal way to reduce the environmental footprint of supply chains ? Given the need to manage plastic tote flows – will there be a potential impact on routing efficiency that should be accounted for ? If the packaging choice impacts product integrity, does the customer accept the associated liability, or should Office depot be required to guarantee that packaging choice does not affect product quality ?