How to Green Your Office

This article gives practical tips to make your office more environmentally friendly. The first step is to convince staff and management - it is their support and enthusiasm on which the 'greening' of your office depends.

Paper

Each office worker scribbles his or her way through a staggering two trees-worth of paper every year! A massive 80% of office waste consists of stationery, so there is huge potential for recycling.

  • Purchase recycled paper that is totally chlorine-free during production. Recycled envelopes, fax paper, labels, files, flip charts, storage boxes and sticky notes are available, so there’s no excuse!
  • Buy envelopes without plastic windows, and non-glossy paper, as these are much easier to recycle.

  • Purchase photocopiers and laser printers with duplex (copying on both sides) capability.
  • Save paper by double-sided photocopying and printing. Set the photocopier to print both sides as standard.
  • Only print things if absolutely necessary.
  • Re-use paper that has only been printed on one side for fax cover sheets and notepaper.
  • Label your publications with relevant environmental information about how it was produced.

Energy

  • Encourage staff to switch off lights, computers, photocopiers and other electrical equipment at night.
  • Enable energy-saving features on all computers and copiers.

  • Replace normal filament bulbs with energy-efficient alternatives. They consume 80% less energy.
  • Put the monitor to sleep rather than use screen savers: this consumes less energy.
  • Consider energy-efficiency when purchasing new equipment. Give preference to equipment with low power stand-by or sleep features.
  • Keep an account of how much electricity is used by the office, and set targets for reducing consumption to a practical level.
  • Make sure external doors and windows are draught-proofed.
  • Regular maintenance of your heating system can improve efficiency.
  • Change to a green energy supplier, which often costs little or no more than your regular supplier. Check out Ecotricity,
    Good Energy and Juice.

Reduce, re-use, recycle

  • In preference to recycling, try to reduce your consumption and re-use materials wherever possible.
  • Recycling collection boxes should be situated in visible areas close to workstations, printers, copiers etc. The more convenient they are to use, the more people will use them.
  • Provide clear notices stating what is and isn’t recyclable.
  • Don't dump used printer, fax and photocopier cartridges - most suppliers and many charities collect returns.
  • Make use of computer and electronic recycling schemes for old equipment.
  • Have a garden composter for organic waste like teabags and fruit peelings.

Travel

The number of private cars in the UK has risen from 2 million in 1952 to around 25 million in 2005, resulting in increased congestion, road accidents, and pollution levels.

  • Promote public transport by advertising bus and train timetables.
  • Set up a car sharing scheme.
  • Encourage people who live short distances from your workplace to walk or cycle: make space for cycle parking and organise a 'cycle to work day'.

Financial services

Many high-street banks are unethical, often investing in environmentally and socially irresponsible projects. Consider switching to companies that actively promote and invest in ethical projects.

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