We keep hearing about how we need to go green at home, but we’re hearing more and more about how to do it at work. There are many offices however, where management has preconceived notions about stacks of paper on the floor, old water bottles and cans littering the trash areas, bugs and some offices have yet to get on the bandwagon of a greener planet for any number of other reasons. We at The Current disagree with these philosophies. You don’t have to have an office with piles of recyclables littering the floor, nor does it have to cost a lot to money to make changes. Let us show you how to go green with minimal effort.
1. Let’s start with everyone’s favorite topic: lunch. Instead of buying 20 ounce bottles of water, buy a refillable water bottle, fill it from the tap or a filtered water source and cut back on much of your plastics waste. Another way to reduce is to bring a fork, knife, spoon and plate from home to use. Just keep them in a desk drawer and wash after using.
2. Maximize your computer’s efficiency by setting it to ‘sleep’ after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. Computers are big energy wasters. When you go home at night, turn everything off on your computer (and in your work area) that you can. Leaving your monitor on overnight is completely unnecessary and wastes large amounts of energy. If you have an electric clock radio or desk light source, turn off and unplug wherever possible. Even when turned off, they use energy.
3. Printing is a big waste of paper. Set your printer preferences to print on both sides of the paper and give some thought to every print job. Do you really need hard copies of e-mails? Is there another way to save documents on your computer instead of on paper? Try investing in flash (jump) drives, CDs or DVDs to save your miscellaneous documents. We strongly recommend investing in CDs and DVDs that have ‘RWRW’ on the label as they can be re-used again and again rather than buying more.
4. If you will leave a room for more than 15 minutes, turn off the lights. Bathrooms, conference rooms and occasional use areas do not need to be lit when no one is using them. Make it a habit to keep an eye out for these energy drains. A sign under the light switches is a good reminder to others to do the same (but be polite and professional about it).
5. Consider your commute. Does anyone at the office live nearby? Could you ride in together even one or two days per week? Think of the gas and wear-and-tear savings. If you are going on travel for your job, consider subways, trains or buses instead of a rental car. You won’t have to worry about navigating around a strange city either.
6. Do you use a desk lamp? Try switching to an energy-efficient bulb and utilize natural light from windows wherever possible. Do you really need indoor lights everywhere in the office on a sunny day? If you can use even 1/3 less lighting, the savings are tremendous.
7. If you clean your own space, use earth-friendly cleaning products. If you bring in a container of the wipes, you’ll be surprised how many of your co-workers will ask to borrow one to use at their desks. For the cost of a tub of wipes, you can get the whole office involved in going a bit greener. Another idea is bringing in plants to absorb the CO2 and pollutants in the office (and they are pretty to look at).
8. Lastly, if you want to convince the boss to endorse a recycling program, you’ll do better if you go to him or her with an idea that is cost-effective, clean and easy to do. Call around to companies that pick-up recycling and get quotes before going to the boss (find out what is included in their prices. Do they provide containers? Do they come by more than once a week? Do they sort or do you?). Many bosses are more prone to go with an idea if you’ve done your homework before asking their permission, which makes you look better too. If they know the costs involved are easy to live with, they have little reason to say ‘no.’
It’s important to remember that you don’t have to do everything at once, just bringing in one new idea per week can make a huge difference overall. Remind your ‘no-green’ boss that companies that go green are oftentimes looked upon more favorably than those that do not. You may want to tell your boss that this information can be placed on your Web site, your promotional materials and business cards to entice other green companies to do business with you. Going green is nothing to be ashamed of, so talk to your coworkers, get some endorsement and if you present the ideas in the right way with the right attitude, you’ll get buy-in every time. Now, go forth and be a green employee. Next month, we’ll cover ways to go green in your home office.