Green Tips for the Office

A famous frog once said "It's not easy being green." While he may having been referring to the dynamics of being a frog who is in love with a pig, being "green" or taking steps to do your part in helping the earth can be easy. Sure, there are some extreme things you can do, there are also some simple things that you can do in your everyday life.

Some of the easiest things you can do to be green can be done at work. The tips below will not only help cut down on pollution, they are simple, easy to do things that you can implement with very little disruption or change to your work routine.

Print directly on envelopes rather than using labels
Some sticky address labels are not recyclable and when used on an envelope it can make it impossible to recycle the envelope, too. Most printers let you print directly on envelopes so by bypassing the label and printing directly on the envelope will ensure that the envelope can be recycled.

Print or copy on both side of the paper
Most printers and copiers have a setting that allows you to print on both sides of the paper. Not only will this save paper and cut down on paper costs, you'll be saving trees, too.

Don't use cover pages when faxing if possible
By cutting down on using a cover page, you'll be saving two pieces of paper, one on your end and one on the receiving end.

Bring your lunch to work
Bringing your lunch to work is not only a great way to save money, it's also great for the environment. By bringing your lunch in containers that you can take home and reuse, you're cutting down on disposable packaging that would have been used with food your would have bought.

Use a coffee mug
In America alone, we use about 14 billion disposable cups each year. You can cut down on that number by using a coffee mug for for daily coffee and/or a plastic cup for water or other beverages.