Tips to Make Your Office Environmentally Friendly

April is Earth Month, and it seems like everyone is talking about the environment and ways to become more eco-friendly. You see it everywhere – T-shirts, newspapers, billboards, and television – all promoting environment-friendly awareness. There are even tax incentives for companies who become more environmentally conscious. To help your company get started on going green and preserving the planet, try out some of these ideas.

Be Energy Efficient. With nearly 7 billion people on the planet, you can imagine how much energy we burn on a daily basis. Cutting back on the energy you use will save money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution which contribute to global warming, and save water. To help save energy, try following these tips.

• Make sure lights are off when they’re not in use.
• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
• Replace air filters monthly.
• Tint your windows or install blinds on your windows.
• Car pool with your co-workers.
• Ride your bike to work.

Reuse and Recycle. Reusing and recycling have become a great concern as research has shown that the earth’s resources are rapidly being depleted. People are living for today and not for the future, forcing younger generations to pay the consequences. Recycling is our best defense to counter the overconsumption that has plagued our planet for centuries. Try some of these tips to help in the fight.

• Put recycle bins in convenient areas for all departments.
• Donate old computers and cell phones back to their originators.
• Bring dishes from home to avoid using Styrofoam.
• Educate co-workers on how to recycle.
• Reduce your print jobs buy reading research, e-mails or other documents online.
• Recycle print cartridges and ink.

Taking these steps won’t save the environment tomorrow, but it is a good place to start. If we each do our part in protecting our planet, we can begin to reverse the affects that our resource consumption has had on our surroundings. By setting an example in your company and going green, you just might inspire others to do the same.

Are you environmentally friendly? What steps does your office take to help out the environment?

Comments

[sandra]

Hi, Great Ideas, thank you. I'm trying to make my office environmentally friendly myself.

One of the things that I'm doing is asking my provider, whenever is possible to send invoices via e-mail. In that way, I save at least an envelope.

Also, I've my default margins from 1" to .25" (bottom, top, left and right).