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GreenWerks | 
Jan 5th, 2012 | 
As anyone who consistently makes an effort to reduce the impact of their daily life on the environment will know, in many cases, switching to a greener way of living will benefit you bank balance, as well as the planet in general. Indeed, often it is the financial gains on offer that makes people change their behaviour, with the contribution that might make to lessening climate change amounting to nothing more than a fortuitous side effect.
This may well offer an insight into just why it is that workplaces are such a large source of energy wastage. After all, the employees, who may be the ones leaving lights on unnecessarily, or not bothering to shut down their computers overnight, are never going to see the company’s energy bill (unless, perhaps, they work in accounts).
With that in mind, it’s easier to understand that those in the work force who aren’t dedicated environmentalists may simply not care about wasting energy. Despite these inherent difficulties there are a number of simple measures the average office can take to combat inefficiency, bad habits and unhelpful attitudes.
Electricity
Electricity is one of the biggest single costs facing the average office. One of the most basic uses is for lighting. Installing compact fluorescent bulbs, which use less energy and last longer, is one great investment that might be made. Another would be to have a time control installed on the lights, meaning that should an uncaring employee leave without turning the lights, there error will be automatically rectified.
One area that is a real must is ensuring all electrical devices are turned off at the end of the day. This applies to all machinery, but it’s worth paying special attention to computers, as they are massive culprit of vampire energy loss, where electronic applications on ‘stand by’ mode continue to use energy. So, ensure the machine is shut down and unplugged, not just merely turned off at the monitor.
Printing
The average office get’s through a staggering amount of paper over the course of the year, with 10,000 sheets being par for the course. However this figure could be significantly lower. For example, by making it a habit to print on both sides of the sheet, you’ll halve the amount of paper use to print notes and drafts.
You should also look into switching into paper made from a higher proportion of recycled material and, at the other end of the process, do make sure you recycle the paper you’ve used.
The same goes for the ink cartridges you use to do your printing. By filling up old cartridges with new ink and reusing them rather than throwing them away you’ll conserve roughly half a gallon of oil.
Commuting
There are many ways a work force can rationalise the environmental, not to mention financial costs involved in travelling to and from the office. One of the simplest and most effective ways this can be done is to organise an employee carpool. You should also look into making sure provision is made for those who want to cycle to work, such as a place they can safely secure their bike. If there is a budget available, you could also encourage people to use public transport rather than their own cars by subsidising some of their costs.
Of course, the most direct way of cutting the environmental cost of business travel is to cut down on the amount of travelling that is required. By allowing workers to telecommute where possible, even if it’s only for part of the week, you can offer your work force a great perk and reduce the businesses carbon footprint.
Steve Waller writes on a huge range of environmental issues on his site GreenSteve, where you can read a wide selection of his in depth articles.
Keep Reading and Check out these Articles:
- 10 Easy Ways to Green Your Office
- Green Your Office
- Chicago Green Community
- Green Network
- 10 Easy Steps to Live Green
Well well, this blog ought to open the eyes of all those guilty office workers out there. Thanks, Steve, this is one very well said blog. This ought to put some sense into those bad habits and unhelpful attitudes.
You are right. The blog is really good and nice information is posting. Regularly iam following this blog. Update the blog with nice and informative post. Keep going.
I manage my father’s business firm in the UK using solar roof shingles for almost four years now. My team and I get to face a lot of problems but electricity was never one to cause us headache. Cheers to solar energy!
I want to have that kind of working environment because it will make me feel comfortable and relax even though I’m working. Great idea!
If I will put up my own company, I will make sure that implementing and maintaining an eco-friendly environment will be one of my philosophies.