How To "Green" Your Work Space in 10 Steps

It has become increasingly important to be mindful of the environment and adopt environmentally-friendly practices. There are many easy ways to "green" the space you work in. You can easily do a "green audit" of your building and hire professionals to help your company reduce its carbon footprint. You can also follow some easy steps to make some changes that won't cost you a cent. You'll feel better and probably help conserve energy and other costs for the company.

To "green" your space, here are 10 easy steps to follow at your office:

1. Forget you have a printer. Try to pretend that your printer is broken or that you can only use the printer in an emergency. This little exercise will help you be strategic about what you print. Read your e-mails on-screen as much as possible and write to-do lists on scratch paper. If you're going to a client meeting, suggest sending your marketing materials or presentation electronically. If you can't avoid printing something, try feeding the printer with paper that has already been used on one side. If you must print, you should order recycled printing paper from your office supplies store and print everything double-sided.

2. Unplug and shut down your computer and turn off your monitor when leaving the office. You will save energy and help reduce electricity costs for the building by completely shutting down at the end of the day. It takes less energy to shut down and restart the next day than it does to leave the computer on sleep mode or to have a screensaver running. When a computer is shut down but plugged in, it continues to consume energy so pull that plug on your way out.

3. Turn off the lights when leaving a room. In spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms and closets, remember to always turn off the lights on your way out. This practice compounded over time will reduce your office's energy consumption.

4. Don't use disposable plates, cups and utensils. Plastic utensils cause an immense amount of waste and litter the planet for hundreds of years. Whenever possible, eat out of real dishes and use as little water as possible when cleaning up. Although bringing your own lunch is healthy and economical, pack it in a reusable container which preferably not plastic.

5. Avoid purchasing plastic water bottles or individual juice bottles for your meetings or your kitchen. Instead, try installing a filter on your kitchen sink or purchasing aluminum water bottles - these are light weight and will save the cost of buying plastic water bottles.

6. Take public transportation. Although gas prices have now fallen, don't forget about public transportation. Driving your car back and forth from work means contributing to the pollution of our environment. If you don't have public transportation near you, try car-pooling with some office mates or riding your bike to work.

7. Always purchase supplies and products made from recycled materials. This one is self-explanatory: whenever possible go for the recycled goods. You'll find a good selection at Staples, Office Max and other vendors.

8. Add recycling bins to your office if you don't have them. In most cases, if you ask your building management, they will provide recycling bins for paper and plastic. Once you have these, be careful what you throw away in your cubicle trash can - make sure paper and plastic don't go in there. Use the correct recycling bins and maximize your recycling karma points.

9. Bring your own coffee mug to Starbucks. Instead of wasting 1-3 paper coffee cups each day, carry a lightweight coffee mug and get re-fills on it daily.

10. Encourage office-mates to adopt your green practices. At your next office meeting, make some suggestions to your colleagues on how you can "green" the office together. You might even start a task force to be in charge of generating ideas and propagating "green" practices.