TIPS TO GREEN YOUR OFFICE
TIPS TO GREEN YOUR OFFICE
Go Green week, from the 10th-16th February, is a national scheme run by People and Planet. It encourages schools and businesses to be environmentally responsible and ultimately ‘Go Green’. Shredding and recycling company, Printwaste has put together these top tips to help keep the work place ‘green’ and help companies to save money.
Separate waste
- Recycling can be made easy by having separate bins. A bin assigned to certain recyclable materials is a simple and efficient way to recycle.
- Company’s can achieve environmental targets and reduce costs by asking Printwaste to conduct a waste audit service.
- All unwanted confidential paper should be kept in a safe and secure place before shredding. Printwaste can securely collect any confidential documents and shred /destroy them on your site using one of their shredding vehicles and ensure the paper is recycled.
Recycle
- Where possible products with a high recycled content should be sourced, such as copier paper, toilet paper and hand towels.
- The majority of office waste including paper, cardboard, cans, plastics bottles, glass and printer cartridges can be recycled easily. Even office furniture, computer equipment and batteries can be safely recycled and manufactured into new products.
Save energy
- Taking the stairs instead of the lift can sometimes save time as well as saving energy.
- Areas that have infrequent occupancy should have motion sensor lights installed.
- When rooms are left empty, lights should be turned off and machines should be powered down.
- When replacing lamps, LED lighting can be more effective and save a lot more energy.
- Lights don’t always need to be switched on – Use natural light where possible.
Save paper and toner
- Printing on both sides of paper is a lot more economical
- Not everything needs to be printed – Think before printing
- When printing for internal use select “draft quality” printouts which use less toner
Save water
- When making drinks do not overfill the kettle
- One drop wasted per second wastes 10,000 litres per year so making sure the taps are completely turned off is vital
Business travel and getting to work
- When taking business trips – sharing travel with a colleague will reduce fuel and share costs
- Conference calls can sometimes be used instead of face to face meetings to help reduce travel costs
- C02 emissions and car parking space can be reduced by staff using public transport, car sharing or cycling to work.
Pass on the Green Message
- All colleagues should be briefed on how to go green in the office; you could consider nominating environmental champions
- An environmental action plan can be created with the help of a recycling contractor
- Staff are often attracted to a workplace by a company’s ethical values