As a follow up to last issues article on Going Green Doesn't Have to Take Much Green, Jennifer has provided some of the key ways you can take your office green. Some of these changes can be implimented in minutes, while others may take some preparation before they can be successful. Either way, making the decision and taking the effort to move in the right direction is a commendable and necessary goal to business success.
- Eliminate as many disposable products as you can by investing in dishes and silverware, towels and napkins and having a reuseable bag hanging at the door for anyone making a lunch run or shopping trip. As a reward for a great project, an office espresso machine and some great fair trade coffee would be really appreciated and would save many Starbuck's cups and might even boost productivity.
- Bottled water wastes huge amounts of plastic that take a lot of energy to recycle. In North America, we have some of the cleanest, safest water on the planet right in our taps! Buy a jug-type water filter to put in the fridge or install a permanent one on your faucet. You'll even money on water cooler rental fees and water charges.
- Insist on environmentally friendly cleaning products to protect the health of your employees. Some of the safest cleaners for humans and for the earth are those that are the cheapest too: baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice and plain old elbow grease.
- Shut off computers, peripherals, and lights when they aren't in use – or better still, unplug them so they can't draw power in the standby mode. Install an electronic thermostat so that your office is not being heated or cooled when no one is there. Save on electricity, save the earth and save money too!
- Reduce your printing by evaluating whether certain files need to be printed and by printing on both sides of the paper. You'll save on both paper and toner. Buy recycled papers for office use with some of the money you save. The more the marketplace demands recycled paper, the cheaper it will become.
- Reuse packing boxes, envelopes and use shredder strips for padding instead of that ultimate evil – styrofoam. Free is always better!
- Switch to a sustainable web host; all those servers take lots of energy to power. There are several hosting companies that are reducing their ecological footprint by buying carbon offsets, making their own offices more green and even relying exclusively on wind- or solar-generated power. The pricing is comparable to less environmentally friendly companies.
- Encourage a healthier workplace by keeping one or even two communal bikes for short trips and lunch breaks. Consider having on-site exercise yoga classes to reduce stress. You'll save on insurance premiums in the long run and will gain productivity.
- Allow employees to work from home, have flex time where they come into the office later and leave later, or even have four long office days rather than five short ones. These actions help to reduce the amount of cars on the road at any given time and especially the cars in rush-hour, just sitting and burning up fuel. You'll help save non-renewable fossil fuels and help reduce global warming.
- Consider a public transit subsidy for employees if you work in a center that is well served. If not, encourage car pooling to further reduce your office's need for gas.
- When you need to purchase new electronic items, make sure they are Energy Star compliant to reduce your power needs and your electricity bill in the long run. Replace that old fridge! For furniture, consider buying used – Craigslist is full of people trying to offload their stuff.
- Reduce air travel by combining trips, a conference with a client meeting for example, or using conferencing software. If you have several employees to get to one fairly close destination, consider driving instead of flying. Purchase gold standard carbon offsets for all your travel to help encourage alternative energy sources and ultimately reduce our dependence
on fossil fuels.
Need more? Here are some resources
Treehugger's Guide to Greening your Work
David Suzuki's Nature Challenge - Taking Care of Business
Clean Air Cool Planet's Guide to Consumer Carbon Offsets
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March 16, 2008 - 7:37am
Good article. I really hope more and more businesses start adopting a green mentality. It is good PR and often can even save them money in the long run.
May 1, 2008 - 9:25pm
As a web developer, I am surrounded by hundreds of electronic devises that suck energy even after our work is done. Recently we add a Green Switch www.greenswitch.tv to our office so the last person out hits the button and all (100%) electricity is terminated on non essential equipment.
May 3, 2008 - 12:11am
Great article!
A couple things- the bottled water, besides being a big waste, may also be dangerous to your health:
www.associatedcontent.com/article/291452/dangers_of_bottled_water.html
Also, we just recently moved to the Big Island, and the volanic "Vog" puts yet another "clutter in the air," so we're trying to get rid of all the "icky" stuff possible. We use eco-solvent printers that really help, and try to turn off all non-needed electrical devices when possible.
Cheers!
Chris "Banner Boy" Anderson
May 14, 2008 - 4:49am
Great food for thought!
Thanx for posting.
May 28, 2008 - 10:07am
Nice Article. I will pass this article to my boss. He will like it and who knows it might change our office environment.
August 13, 2008 - 2:58am
great info! thanks
August 13, 2008 - 2:58am
Great food for thought!
Thanx for posting.
August 18, 2008 - 7:21am
Now that we are talking about green offices I would also like to know more about green office furniture, what tips can you give us here? I plant to acquire some new office desks and I would appreciate some infos about my green options.
August 20, 2008 - 8:40am
thank you very much
August 25, 2008 - 12:49pm
very nice. thank you. byssss
August 26, 2008 - 11:44am
thanks so much for posting this. it was a huge timesaver
September 2, 2008 - 6:27pm
thank you.good article.
September 2, 2008 - 6:29pm
thanks.
September 11, 2008 - 1:55pm
This went nice . Really , Fayali am thanking..
September 11, 2008 - 1:58pm
thank you very nice. veryyy goooddd
September 14, 2008 - 7:51am
Thanks a lot nice written article!
September 17, 2008 - 1:51pm
teşekkürlers (turkish)
September 17, 2008 - 1:53pm
saolun beyler :)
September 17, 2008 - 1:54pm
ii güzel çalısmalar
September 22, 2008 - 2:48am
Great site.
September 27, 2008 - 2:19am
Thanks for the great share.
September 27, 2008 - 3:46am
Great food for thought!
September 29, 2008 - 8:01pm
I try to be as "green" as possible in every aspect of my life. I'll be bringing your article to the attention of my boss. Thanks for the tips!
October 8, 2008 - 8:19am
very nice. thank you. byssss
October 8, 2008 - 8:19am
saolun beyler :)
October 13, 2008 - 5:30pm
Great saving tips, it's worth buying some extra insurance for those rainy days.
October 24, 2008 - 8:52am
I work in an office and I am perfectly aware of my green options only that things are not that simple. It's not that simple to considerable reduce printing or to simply stop using certain computers. I recently got few new brother printers and now my old printers are a serious problem, I can't keep them and can't recycle the either, at least not in this area...
October 26, 2008 - 4:43pm
thansk
October 26, 2008 - 4:52pm
thnaks yaff
October 26, 2008 - 4:54pm
very nice
October 26, 2008 - 4:55pm
thanks very works
October 27, 2008 - 11:24am
Hi thank you very much
October 30, 2008 - 6:40am
Great food for thought!
Thanx for posting.
November 4, 2008 - 12:19pm
Thanks....
November 4, 2008 - 12:20pm
Hi thank you very much
November 8, 2008 - 4:32pm
Cool. Thanks for the nice article!
November 15, 2008 - 1:21am
I work in an office and I am perfectly aware of my green options only that things are not that simple. It's not that simple to considerable reduce printing or to simply stop using certain computers.
November 17, 2008 - 1:25am
Yeah, too green would be a Siberian Taiga, if we move there, that would be totally green!! :)
November 17, 2008 - 1:27am
Good tips, but i doubt you can remember to follow all ))
November 19, 2008 - 7:34pm
Thanks
November 21, 2008 - 5:38pm
I'll be bringing your article to the attention of my boss.
November 21, 2008 - 5:40pm
Reduce air travel by combining trips, a conference with a client meeting for example, or using conferencing software. If you have several employees to get to one fairly close destination, consider driving instead of flying. Purchase gold standard carbon offsets for all your travel to help encourage alternative energy sources and ultimately reduce our dependence
November 21, 2008 - 6:30pm
He will like it and who knows it might change our office environment.
November 21, 2008 - 6:40pm
Reduce air travel by combining trips, a conference with a client meeting for example, or using conferencing software. If you have several employees to get to one fairly close destination, consider driving instead of flying. Purchase gold standard carbon offsets for all your travel to help encourage alternative energy sources and ultimately reduce our dependence
on fossil fuels.
November 25, 2008 - 6:00am
thanks.
November 25, 2008 - 6:01am
thanks.
November 25, 2008 - 6:02am
thanks.
November 25, 2008 - 6:03am
thanks.
November 25, 2008 - 6:16am
thanks.
November 28, 2008 - 10:49am
Certainly we have a lot of work to do to be part of the green movement and if we start we our surroundings we may be doing a lot for our planet.
December 2, 2008 - 6:31pm
Not much seems to be working for me — not the YouTube, not the Flickr, not the RSS reader. Not much at all. Am I missing some plugins or something?
December 3, 2008 - 4:59am
I work in an office and I am perfectly aware of my green options only that things are not that simple.
December 3, 2008 - 10:27am
Useful and effectual informations. Thanks
December 3, 2008 - 7:02pm
Finally something positive from the ano maSSistas, thank you ano Franco, I will change the word fighter as soon as I can. Don’t get confuse, it means I fight for democracy in my country, off course you already new this.
December 7, 2008 - 11:57pm
Also, we just recently moved to the Big Island, and the volanic "Vog" puts yet another "clutter in the air," so we're trying to get rid of all the "icky" stuff possible. We use eco-solvent printers that really help, and try to turn off all non-needed electrical devices when possible.
December 8, 2008 - 10:28pm
Don’t get confuse, it means I fight for democracy in my country, off course you already new this.
December 8, 2008 - 10:38pm
Good article. I really hope more and more businesses start adopting a green mentality. It is good PR and often can even save them money in the long run.
December 10, 2008 - 8:11am
work in an office and I am perfectly aware
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