Green Your Office!

Going green is taking the business world by storm. How can you get your office onto the sustainable bandwagon?

First things first - sell your boss on the idea. Your conservation crusade will only go so far without the approval of management. Businesses are greening up left and right, so this will be an easier sell than it was a few years ago. Besides the obvious environmental benefits of less waste, remind your boss of the money it will save. Conservation is all about using less. The less stuff your office uses, like electricity or paper, the less money has to be spent on it.

The next thing to do is form a green team. Getting your office to go green can be a fairly extensive process, and you don't want to get stuck being the only one working on creating the new resource conservation policies. Getting your co-workers involved has other benefits beside division of labor. Being directly involved has the potential to get your colleagues more excited about greening your office. Also, more heads mean more ideas.

Once you get your green team started, it's time to do some sustainability brainstorming. Remember - if you start with small tasks that are easy to accomplish, it'll be easier to build steam for your office greening efforts. There's nothing like a series of success to build morale and gain office support. While every office is unique, here are a few ideas you can start with.

1) Energy Efficiency - Offices burn up electricity like it was going out of style. Lights, printers, computer towers and monitors all need a lot of power to run. The down and out easiest way to reduce energy usage is to turn off lights and appliances when they're not in use. You can do this yourself, and you can install timers and motion sensors to do it for you. Timers are useful in buildings that will only be occupied during certain hours while motion sensors are useful in any office.

How can else you cut down on the energy drain? Start out by investing in energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. Compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, are currently the best green alternative to incandescent lights. For appliances, look for the Energy Star label - the Energy Star program is a certification program of the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy with strict energy efficiency guidelines.

The other major energy use in an office building is heating and cooling. It's worth the investment to make sure that your building's HVAC system and thermostats are in good working condition so energy isn't wasted through the overheating or overcooling of the building. Keep the thermostat set between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit to keep workers comfortable and energy usage down.

2) Reduce paper use - The second resource that offices burn through is paper. Since the much vaunted paperless office has yet to materialize, what can be done in the meantime?

Sometimes the easiest strategies are the most effective: print on both sides of the paper when you can, reuse paper that's only been printed on one side for drafts or scrap paper, and use email to send memos and documents whenever possible. You can keep editing work paperless by using the 'Track Changes' option in Microsoft Word or by sharing and jointly editing documents using software like Google Documents. Lastly, scanners can be your best friend in the quest to save paper. Instead of copying dozens or even hundreds of pages, scan them and send an electronic copy of the document instead.

3) Proper Purchasing - If it was never bought in the first place, no one will ever need to throw it away ... or the packaging that comes with it. Streamlining ordering for the office ensures that you don't end up with supplies that the office doesn't really need. Also, avoid products with excess packaging whenever possible.

Once office supply ordering is streamlined, the next priority is to buy the greenest products available.

Most office supplies have green alternatives: paper products with recycled content, refillable pens and ink cartridges, eco-friendly cleaning products, etc. Finally, if you have any leverage with your office supply company, suggest that they shift to office supplies that have little packaging, a lot of recycled content, and are otherwise eco-friendly.

4) Reduce Waste - If you've been following steps one through three, this has been happening all along. However, there are a few more strategies to employ in the battle against waste in the office.

If your officemates are in the habit of using disposable cups, plates, or utensils, get them out of it! A one-time investment in reusable cups, plates, etc. saves money in the long run, and it keeps a whole lot of disposables from going into the trash. Another way to keep material out of the landfill is to get rid of office junk mail. Greendimes.com is a good free site to go to for guidance through the process. Otherwise, call or send letters to individual junk mail senders to ask them to take your office off their mailing lists.

Another way to reduce waste is to make sure that you recycled as much of your waste stream as you can. Make sure that office trash and recycling bins are well marked. Posters showing which items are recyclable or non-recyclable will make sorting even easier.

Last but not least, take a look at office water use. Make sure that there aren't any leaks that need to fixed - a leaky faucet means money down the drain. Also, check to see if your office has aerated faucets and low-flow toilets. If your office doesn't, ask management if it would be possible to replace your bathroom fixtures with more waster efficient ones. As with electricity, using less water means that your office will be paying less money on the utility bill.

While it will take some work, making your office into a greener place is well worth the effort. Cutting down on waste will pay off for your bottom line and for the environment.