How to Green a Workplace

Over 3,100 landfills across America are filled with unnecessary packaging from products wastefully consumed by citizens who want everything "now." It would seem an impossible task to reverse the trend. But people are slowly learning it's easy to be green and as a result, are improving their personal and work spaces and saving money in the process.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Offer to coordinate an office-wide recycling program. The National Recycling Coalition website has a calculator which shows how much energy can be saved by recycling different products and the impact each has on the environment. For example, making paper from recycled paper reduces contributions to air pollution by an astonishing 95 percent.
2. Encourage alternatives to paper. Email, message boards, chat programs, various software programs and virtual offices and filing cabinets should really preclude the use of most inner office paperwork.
3. Conduct a quick energy audit and look for areas prone to waste, such as electricity. Replace any old, energy-consuming incandescent light bulbs with the new Energy Saving Compact Fluorescent (CFL) bulbs which use 66 percent less energy. Turn off lights and equipment when not in use and allow computers to go to "sleep" mode during the day when not in use. According to the Energy Star program, activating sleep settings on just one computer can prevent about 300 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
4. Suggest telecommuting as a way for employees to save resources at the offices and spend less of their income on gasoline. Working from home also improves air quality, lessens employee absences, and bolsters a company's bottom line. The advent of the computer and programs such as MyPC augments the ability of employees to work from home.
5. Make sure water is being used efficiently. Have any sink or toilet leaks repaired immediately. Hot water leaking at a rate of one drip per second can waste up to 1,661 gallons of water over the course of a year.
6. Minimize the use of commerical cleaning solutions. Many contain toxic chemicals which can cause Sick Building Syndrome, resulting in the expense of sick time paid out to employees for related ailments. Use homemake mixtures or buy from green supply companies.
7. Put your office's money where its mouth it. As often as possible, only work with environmentally-friendly vendors. When you purchase office equipment, look for items that have the EPA's ENERGY STAR label which indicates a product with eco-friendly features. As an example of the impact this can have, the EPA said a home office outfitted exclusively with ENERGY STAR equipment (computer, monitor, printer, and fax) can save enough electricity to light that home for more than four years.

Tips & Warnings

• Check into a "Green Tag" program at Green-e.org and learn how your business could purchase or provide certified renewable energy.