Green Living at Work

1.Recycle Recycle Recycle 
By talking with the boss of your company, or the person in charge of such things, maybe it would be possible to at least get recycling bins put around the office to collect all the paper scraps and aluminum or glass containers in the kitchen. If your city does not have recycling pick-up, there are companies out there that specialize in setting up programs where they come to your office on a weekly basis to pick up any and all recycling.

2.Save Energy
Try to make it office policy that everyone at least turns off their monitors, if not their computers, before they head out for the day. In some offices it is not possible to turn off the computers for network reasons, but there is no reason the monitor has to be on.

3. Avoid individual Bottles of Water
A lot of companies provide bottled water to their employees, but often this is in individual bottles that are kept in the refrigerator. Try to talk to the person in charge of buying food and supplies for the office to see if it would be possible to put in a water cooler and some plastic or glass cups that everyone can use. That way, paper cups and plastic water bottles do not have to be put in the trash or recycling bin every day.

4.Use Recycled Paper
Make sure that the paper that is used in copiers and printers is 100% post consumer recycled paper. All the big box stores like Staples and Office Max carry this, and there is absolutely no reason that paper should not be of the recycled kind. Offices use fifteen million sheets of office paper every FIVE minutes, so imagine how many trees are being destroyed so you can print out your reports.

5.Use Innovative Software to save Paper
GO digital when you can! There are great software programs available that help save paper. FinePrint (www.fineprint.com) is one that provides a printer driver to allow you to print 2-8 pages on a single page. This is great for saving paper! Another great product from the same company is PDFfactory. This software provides a printer driver that allows you to print to a PDF file, thereby foregoing the need to print to paper at all. Why not just save your documents to your hard drive, email to people that need a copy and back up to disk. GREAT idea!

6.Use technology to save paper
Contact the people you lease (yes, most companies lease, they do not own) your copiers and fax machines from to see if they have models that will print on both sides of the paper. Most of them will have them, and presenting the idea to your boss as a money saver and not an environmental move would probably be more influential.

7.Use technology to save Resources
When the need for a meeting comes up that entails travel outside your area, think about if you could accomplish the same goals by teleconferencing. With today's technology, you can instant message, VOIP, create forums or discussion groups, and even have face to face meetings via web cams. If you don't NEED to be there in person, save the company some money and the environment some damage by not traveling.

8.Change habits in the kitchen.
Try to get the company to buy real forks and knives and stop buying plastic ones that are only used once, are made from fossil fuels, and take 1000 years to biodegrade. This can save a landfill from getting filled up with even more plastic then it already is.

9.If you happen to work in the shipping department, reuse those boxes!
Just because it says something on the side of the box does not mean that it is no good. Sure, you might not want to send something to a paying customer in a box with some other company's name on the side, but there are plenty of times you can reuse boxes no matter what they say on the side!

10.Use Solar
If you have windows in your office, be sure to use the free light that is outside! Turn off those overhead lights and work by natural light; its better for your eyes and the environment.