Wednesday, March 07, 2012

3 Tips for a Greener Workplace

There are many things within an office that can be made Eco-friendly. A little saved paper or a few less lights on can save a lot of energy and resources. Not only that, but it can also save the business a bit of money along the way.
 

1) Use the backsides of used paper when printing notes or anything that doesn't need to be presented or used for anything a customer might see.
    You'd be surprised how much money can be saved just by reusing paper.  Realistically, you wont reuse every sheet of paper, but at least 2/3 sheets of paper can be salvaged in one way or another. If 2/3 sheets of paper are reused, this means that less money has to be wasted to buy new paper and less recyclable material ends up in our landfills. Instead of buying notebooks or notepads for your office, set up a box near the garbage or somewhere in the middle of the workplace for used paper. Reuse paper not needed anymore in your drawers and around the workplace.


2) Turn off lights when not in use, or turn of some of the lights when it is bright outside.
    Why turn on the lights when there's plenty of green, free light outside? There's no reason to turn on the lights when you can just open the blinds a bit. If there's not enough light outside, consider only turning on 1 set of lights if your workplace has more than 1 set. Whenever an area is not in use, such as a storage area or backroom, turn the lights off, or again turn all but one set off.  This will also lower the workplace's electricity bill, potentially a lot of money depending on the size of the workplace. Not only that, but you will also be helping the environment!


3) Suggest a paperless office.
    Going paperless isn't achievable for all workplaces, but it is certainly plausible for most offices. Consider switching from paper reports to .pdf reports and encourage customers to use email rather than regular mail.  If you really want to go paperless, suggest buying tablet computers for employees to use at work. This will almost eliminate the need for paper, as all reports and notes can be typed up by the tablet computers. During presentations, use slides or tablet computers rather than booklets of paper. Depending on how much paper the company uses and how much paper will actually be converted into electronic format, this could actually end up saving the company money by purchasing tablet computers once rather than paper many times over the company's lifespan.

Have any more suggestions for a greener workplace? Leave your suggestion in the comments and share your opinion!

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