What better opportunity to green your office than the day we celebrate our planet? Here are ten quick tips that can make your offices and lives healthier, result in cost-savings, and tread lightly on the earth. Give ‘em a try!
1. Choose a reusable water bottle. Each year, 1.5 million barrels of oil go to making plastic water bottles used in the United States, and less than a quarter of those bottles are recycled.
2. Set computers to enter sleep mode after 5 minutes of idle time, and you’ll be saving energy during lunchtime and other outings. And shut them down at night - contrary to eco-myth, it’s better for the earth and your computer to shut them off before you head home.
3. Plug your office electronics into a power strip so that you can easily turn them all of when you’re not using them - you’ll keep your devices from sapping “phantom” energy loads when they’re off but plugged in. On average, 40% of the energy used in homes powers turned-off appliances.
4. It doesn’t take a forest to clean the air in your office, only about one plant for every 10 square yards. Plants like philodendrons and peace lilies absorb airborne pollutants, keeping the air you breathe clean and clear.
5. Standard keyboard cleaners contain toxins you definitely don’t want to inhale. Just one 10-oz can of chem duster has the same greenhouse gas creating the same effect as burning 100 gallons of gas. Take CTRL: Just turn your keyboard upside down, give it a little shake, and slide a piece of 2-sided adhesive tape between the keys.
6. Unless you’re printing something super important, save ink and paper by tracking your changes in electronic documents. If you absolutely need to print something, print it double-sided. Who could conscientiously object to that?
7. You probably already do it at home for convenience, but lessen your paper clutter at the office too by banking and paying bills online. Phone companies alone use 23,280 tons of paper per year just to bill U.S. residential customers for single lines of service.
8. Ink cartridges can take up to 450 years to decompose. Recycle your old ones, and next time you buy, go with refilled cartridges, which work just like conventional ones and cost up to 75% less than new ones.
9.Baggies are piling up in landfills quicker than you can say “ziplock,” and toxins in plastics are no picnic. Reduce waste by taking your lunch in reusable, safe containers. Some plastics, like PVC (#3), polystyrene (#6), and polycarbonate (#7) contain hormone disruptors or other nasty chemicals. Stay healthy with plastics #1, 2, 4 or 5.
10. A surefire way to avoid awkward elevator silences and save energy? Take the stairs instead. No surprises here: Climbing stairs burns up to 10 times more calories than standing in an elevator. And, depending on type, capacity, and usage, an elevator’s yearly energy usage can equal the energy used to power seven homes annually.
