Since I tend to work well with check lists, I thought I'd take some green practices that are relevant to the office and list them here. So many of us inhabit office space that was not built green - and even if you do work in a green building, here are some tactical things you can do to better your green world.
At your desk, or as an individual, here you go - things you can somewhat control.
1. Use a coffee mug instead of paper/Styrofoam/plastic cup for your coffee. 1.9 million tons of paper and plastic cups and plates are thrown away each year. Yes, your Starbucks cup is recycled paper and can be recycled but that requires energy so just don't use paper cups.
2. Get rid of the disposable pens and pencils. 5.1 billion pens are disposed of each year when you run out of ink. Get a refillable pen and enjoy better quality and produce less waste. Cut down those purchases from Office Depot.
3. Paper is an easy one. Print on both sides, print less, save paper in a tray on your desk that is only used on one side and use it as scrap paper, proof on the screen so you only print once, recycle the used paper and buy recycled paper. It is so hard to stop using paper but you can certainly cut down on the amount by a bit and that little bit adds up.
4. Turn off your computer completely at night and turn off your monitor at night too. If you are away during the day, put your computer to sleep ( system preferences on your computer allows you to change settings ). www.energystar.gov has some "how to" guidelines for computer users.
5. Bring your lunch to work in reusable containers. You don't need to buy new containers, just reuse the ones from the take out food you ordered. Reuse bread wrappers and other plastic packaging and avoid buying plastic bags. Give up yucky plastic forks and spoons.
Pretty simple stuff that adds up and makes sense.
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