There are so many valuable reasons to go green. Making green choices are more efficient, less wasteful, better for the environment, and often end up being a cheaper route! Many people have taken steps to go green at home, but what about making better environmentally friendly choices at the office too? Below, we have listed some easy ways to go green in the office.
Stop Wasting Paper
- Think twice before you copy or print. It might not be necessary to print out the meeting agenda. Or, it may be enough to supply all employees with a PDF version of the employee handbook instead of a printed hard copy. Also, try to recycle paper by using the backs of unwanted documents for scrap.
- GreenPrint and EcoPrint2 are two software programs that exist to identify wasted space for times when printing is necessary. It will identify wasted space and send the user an alert.
- Try typing with smaller font. While your document still should be legible, smaller font will use less ink and paper and end up being more efficient.
- Change the settings on the copy machine. Make printing double-sided the standard. Also, try printing in the draft mode and only use color printing when absolutely necessary. You will end up saving ink and paper from these two easy changes.
Turn off the Lights
- Try using natural lighting in the office when possible. Open the blinds up to let in the daylight to cut down on keeping the office lights on.
- Install motion sensors that will trigger the artificial lights in the office. It does not make sense to keep lights on in the office when nobody is actively using the lights.
- Try to decorate with light colors. Having light colors help reflect the light in the room, while dark colors tend to absorb the light, requiring even more artificial light to illuminate the space.
Make Smart Office Purchases
- Try to only use reusable pens. In the long run, the reusable pens will end up being cheaper and are far less wasteful. When the pen runs out of ink, you will only be replacing the ink and not the entire pen. Plus, having only reusable pens available to the office will make people more accountable for their pen since the supply cabinet will only be stocked with refills.
- Purchase LED light bulbs and lights for the office. LED light bulbs are more energy efficient and cut back on electricity bills.
- Try to purchase re-manufactured ink cartridges and ink toners. They are usually cheaper and far less wasteful. Besides throwing away a used ink toner in the trash, the resources that go into making a new ink toner are pretty steep. It takes about a half-gallon of oil just to make a new ink cartridge when a re-manufactured one will work just as well.
- If possible, try to use multi-purpose machines, such as a copy machine that will also scan and fax documents. You will end up using a smaller carbon footprint.
Many of these quick fixes to transform your office into a green environment are easy and cheap to do. Start the initiative at work and make these small changes to create a better working environment for everyone. A better environment also starts with cleaner, fresher air. Try replacing your furnace filters every month to improve your indoor air quality.
