Green Living
Green Work
Green at Work
One of the first places to start when looking to make your company greener is to issue an Environmental Policy. It is what expresses your company's commitment to green purchasing by continual improvement. It can also be the first step in going for your accreditaion to ISO14001:2004.
On setting the policy, get the key managers together and ask them to put forward ideas.
On selecting their ideas, you can then give them ownership to see it through, hence spreading the load. As you reap the benefits of green business, you may wish to appoint an Environmental Manager to move you to the next level closer to running a carbon neutral business.
Apart from your directors and the environment manager, one of the key movers in making your company green is the Procurement Manager. See our purchasing page for more.
Try getting to grips with some of the following ideas to get you started.
Remove the Tie
How can a tie help fight climate change? When you leave it at home.
In the "cool biz" summer of 2005, Japanese salarymen swapped their trademark dark blue business suits for open collars and light tropical colors. It was all part of the Japanese government's effort to save energy by keeping its office temperatures at 28°C (82.4°F) throughout the summer.
The policy caused sartorial confusion but did make a dent in Japan's rising carbon emissions. In one summer, Japan cut an estimated 79,000 tons of CO2. If U.S. businesses eased off on their arctic-level air-conditioning, the gains could be significant. Time to make every summer day casual Friday?
Use Greener Transport
Overhaul your company logistics, car rentals and transporters. Go out to tender again letting potential suppliers know that you will select based on the most eco-friendly solution. What engines are in their trucks? How well are they maintained? How far from your locations are they?
Use Greener Stationery
Again, let your buyer let potential suppliers know that you will select based on the most eco-friendly solution. Buy recycled paper stationery (printed and paper reams).
Americans recycled 42 million tons of paper last year—50% of what they used—but still pulverized the rest. Paper does grow on trees: 900 million of them every year become pulp and paper.
We can reduce that number by buying more recycled paper. It uses 60% less energy than virgin paper. Each ton purchased saves 4,000 kW-h of energy, 7,000 gal. of water and 17 trees, and a tree has the capacity to filter up to 60 lbs. of pollutants from the air.
Print Less
Aim for a paperless office! Scan documents, save files on your hard-drive instead of keeping a hard copy whenever possible.
Add a footer on your automatic e-mail signatures: "Save paper! Please think before printing e-mails".
Don't run on Standby
A screen saver is not an energy saver. Too much electricity consumed at work is standby power used to keep electronics running when those computers, monitors and copiers are "off." The average desktop computer, not including the monitor, consumes from 60 to 250 watts a day.
Compared with a machine left on round-the-clock, a computer that is in use four hours a day and turned off the rest of the time would save you about $70 a year. The carbon impact would be even greater. Shutting it off would reduce the machine's CO2 emissions 83%, to just 63 kg a year.
Turn off the Lights
Assigning an office switch-off monitor might cut carbon emissions by reducing electricity use, not to mention extending equipment life and lowering maintenance costs.It's not exactly glamorous work: walking the halls to make sure that computers, monitors, desk lights, printers and fax machines are turned off daily. Heating, air-conditioners and overhead lights can be timed for turnoff: Aim for off-peak energy use to be about one-fifth of peak use. In the morning, the switch-on monitor takes over.
Recycle IT Equipment
Don't let the local council put your old IT equipment on the landfill: several companies provide a complete IT waste disposal and computer recycling service, nationwide!
Waste Collection Online Shop allows you to navigate to all products on the website.
PC4 Recycling is a Microsoft authorized refurbisher and is registered by the environment agency.
Also, please visit our Recycling page.
Get Carbon Credits?
To cut back on carbon, environmentalists are using the force of the free market. In carbon-emissions trading, the government puts a cap on how much carbon an industry is allowed to emit from power plants, factories and cars. Innovative companies could meet those caps through actual reductions and earn carbon "credits," which they could sell to industry laggards.
In USA, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont have agreed on a regional cap-and-trade system. Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington have signed a similar pact. New emissions-reduction technology is sexier, but old-fashioned horse trading might just be more effective.
Living Green in the City
If you're a true environmentalist, a dyed-in-the-wool greenie, then why not pack up your leafy rural home and move to New York City—preferably to a tall building right in the middle of Manhattan?
The Big Apple is home to the greenest citizens in the U.S. Relatively few New Yorkers own cars—one of the biggest contributors to an individual's carbon emissions. Most walk, bike or ride public transit to work—all more efficient transport than the best hybrids.
And New York has developed up, rather than out, which limits wasteful sprawl. Eight million New Yorkers are squeezed into 301 sq. miles: less than a fortieth of an acre per person. Even a fairly dense suburb devotes about a third of an acre to each person.
City density means that commutes, shopping trips and supply chains are shorter. Plus, New Yorkers tend to live in small spaces, although they're a little cranky about it. The denser the area you call home, the smaller your personal carbon footprint: not to mention your gas and electricity bill.
Working at Home
Although homeworkers reduce travel emissions (unless you use leg power to commute!), in the winter the energy they use at home could exceed this saving. The answer may be to work in the office during the winter and at home the rest of the year. In this way you can use natural ventilation and light during the summer and share office heating during the winter: the best of both worlds. If your boss could allow you to work at home, then do it during the warm months.
Reduce Business Travel
Make annual meeting venues a central location; make off-site meetings less frequent; set up teleconferencing or use Skype or MSN Messenger more often.
External Links for Greener Work
Envirodat Ltd provides emissions monitoring mainly for businesses and factories in the UK. For more information, visit their site here.
ERM provides a full environmental consultancy for companies world-wide. For more information, visit their site here.
The Green Copier Company was formed to provide environmentally-friendly copying and printing products to companies that require quality equipment, backed up by excellent service.
The Green Stationery Company (Bath) provides recycled paper and stationery and eco-friendly office supplies.
Let ecotricity power your company. Join now: WWF, Bodyshop, Sainsbuy's and Lotus have.