How to Give Your Office a Green Makeover
Now that you’ve given your home an ecologically-friendly makeover, you may be asking yourself what else you can do to help the planet. The answer? Move on to the office.
After all, most of us spend at least as much time at the office as we do at home. When it comes to the environment, even small actions can make a big difference when everyone takes part. So, whether you are a CEO or a lowly office grunt, here are some steps you can take to help make your job a greener place.1. Commuting - Changing the way you commute is probably the single most effective way to help clean up the environment. Think about it-the average American commute is 45 miles round-trip each day. This adds up to approximately 6.6 tons in 1 year! Of course, this is just an average-your daily commute may be more or less. If you don’t live too far from work, consider walking or riding your bike in, at least on nice days. Not only will you contribute to cleaner air, you just might trim a few pounds off of your waistline! If you live too far away for non-motorized transportation, consider public transportation. You may even be able to ride your bike to a nearby bus station, and then take the bus the rest of the way in. Or, you can carpool with someone else.
2. Telecommute - What’s even better than having a green commute? Well, not having to commute at all, of course! Check with your boss to see if telecommuting is an option for you.
3. Conserve energy - Make sure your office is taking energy conservation measures. For example, does everything get turned off after the last person leaves each day? Can any of the lights being used be replaced with compact fluorescents or LED’s? If you are a low-level employee trying to convince the company to make changes, try to calculate how much these actions would save the company in energy costs. Then, present this information to your boss. Even if he or she thinks the term “environmentalist” is synonymous with “dirty hippie,” your boss will appreciate the fact that you are taking the initiative to save the company money.
4. Reduce waste - Offices can produce a lot of trash. This often gets overlooked by the people producing it because unlike your home, where you are personally responsible for taking the trash out to the curb, in an office someone else disposes of it. To help reduce the amount of garbage your office produces, consider implementing some waste-cutting measures. First, try to use less paper. Don’t write out and print a memo that you could just as easily email. In fact, anything that you can do digitally instead of on paper should be done digitally. Trees will thank you! Also, when printing documents, print on both sides of the page-an easy way to make a dent in your office’s paper use! In the breakroom, have non-disposable coffee cups instead of Styrofoam. Try to order recycled paper products. Also, consider using reusable paperclips instead of staples.
5. Recycle electronics - Staying on the cutting edge of technology is important for many businesses. The only problem is this: once this year’s model becomes antiquated, what are you going to do with it? Sure, everyone in the office may need a brand-new Blackberry with a GPS system-but what is your company going to do with the old ones? Recycling electronics is important. Hidden inside our shiny electronic toys is a cornucopia of toxic materials such as cadmium, lead, mercury and other heavy metals. If they are thrown away and allowed to decompose, these chemicals can end up contaminating the groundwater. Make sure your office has a recycling program in place for electronics, and work to raise awareness among your co-workers so that they understand the need to recycle their personal electronic devices. Many manufacturers offer recycling programs for their products, and some charities take them as donations.
Most of the actions listed above can save your company money as well as help reduce its environmental impact. Placing the emphasis on the bottom line and presenting the environmental benefits as a side benefit can help prompt change even in an organization where protecting the environment is not part of the corporate culture.
However, if you can’t convince your coworkers to go along with you, don’t lose hope. Just do what you can on your own, and hopefully everyone else will catch up in time.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 10:31 am and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.