Make Your Office a Little More (Eco) Friendly
April 22, 2008 by Gabrielle
Filed under Green Living
My plans for a huge Earth Day post are being foiled by what looks like is going to be a long day in the office.
I’m guessing that most of you probably spend long hours at your workplace as well. So why not make that space as green as can be?
My office is small by most standards – there are about 10 of us that move in and out throughout the course of the day, but it is amazing how many things we were able to change to minimize our organization’s impact on the environment and create a healthier environment for all of us inside. And they really weren’t that painful:
1. We started recycling aluminum glass and paper, something we should have done ages ago, and are taking advantage of our community’s free recycling and reusing day next month to dispose of any aging electronics we may have. We recycle our ink cartridges at Staples (who, FYI, is offering 25% off any eco-friendly products this week)
2. We bought plants – mostly succulents that will withstand the varied temperatures and memories (was it my turn to water them?) of the office.
3. We are reducing our use of plastic cups and utensils by bringing our own dishes, mugs and silverware from home.
4. We are trying to get our members (we are an association) used to NOT having so many handouts and papers at meetings and training events. Instead, we post as much as we can online to our website before and after meetings and relying more on electronic presentations for our trainings.
5. We are trying to hold more events via teleconference and web-conference. In addition to saving gas and wear and tear on our members’ cars, we are also seeing an increase in participation and productivity.
6. This took some doing, but we reduced the amount of catalogues, magazines, flyers and generally useless mailings that we used to receive here on a daily basis. Most times, this took several calls to convince a vendor that we really could live without his publication. But this initial effort has resulted in less items going directly to the circular file cabinet and much less staff time spent sifting through them.
7. We are slowly making the shift to “green” cleaning products and asking our housekeeper to do the same. There is still some debate within the office as to which brands are most effective, smell the best, etc. But hey, you can’t make every change overnight, right?
8. We buy our coffee and products from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a company that focuses on fair trade.
9. 100% recycled paper products are still a little too steep for our small budget so we currently have 30%. We are looking into www.recyclaholics.com and perhaps partnering with some other local businesses to see if we can take advantage of some group purchasing for a lower price.
Hey! So this is turning out to be quite a post anyway! And here are just a few more ideas and products for you to consider:
Check out Greenline Paper Co. They have all kinds of neat eco-friendly office wares, including recycled paper clips and post it notes. And they offer a certification to show your customers/members/whomever that you are green office. Look for the survey on their website to see if you qualify.
Download the Green at Work Guide from http://www.iconservepa.org and bring it to your next staff meeting. I was amazed at how little it took to get the entire office energized and actively looking for ways we could be more eco-friendly. It just took a conversation.
Happy Earth Day!!
Yay for y’all! I have two immediate thoughts:
1. Why are recycled paper products so expensive?! *sigh* I don’t know a whole lot about the recycling process, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the price.
2. Try vinegar for cleaning. I’ve been using it for a while now and am pleased. Yeah, it stinks, but after a while I swear you get used to it, haha. Plus, after a while, you start to notice how much more pleasant it is on your head than commercial cleaners are. Once I’d been using it for a while, it really became apparent to me how “clouded” my head would feel when I was using commercial stuff. Too, it helped me stop using cleaners made by companies that tested on animals AND save some $$$ by not having to spring for some of the more expensive eco-friendly cleaners.
I’m such a vinegar advocate, lol.
Alicia, I have no clue as to why they are so costly. But they are so much more than our regular stock, it really is something we’ll need to either budget for, or share with another company to see if we can get a discount.
I am trying out the vinegar solution for cleaning in my own home – it’s working well, but not sure I can sway the office on it yet….
LOL, yeah, it’s definitely something that takes some getting used to. I remember the looks on faces when I announced I was going to start using it to clean, ha.
“4. We are trying to get our members (we are an association) used to NOT having so many handouts and papers at meetings and training events. Instead, we post as much as we can online to our website before and after meetings and relying more on electronic presentations for our trainings.”
Thank you! This has quickly become one of my worst pet peeves: sitting down at a meeting only to have the presenter plop down a ~20 page synopsis of his/her presentation in front of you – sometimes wasting an entire page for just a few words. There are inevitably always leftovers as well that just get strewn uselessly around the office before being thrown in a trash can and not recycled.
Sorry for the rant, but in this day and age, there is absolutely no excuse for the amount of paper most offices waste.