Wherever you weigh in on global warming — whether you stand with Al Gore or Rush Limbaugh — there’s one issue we can all agree on: Saving money in the office is a good thing. And going green is an effective way to save some green in a small business.
Look around your office. Do you see a phone charger plugged in with no phone attached? Do you see computer monitors that don’t get turned off when everybody leaves at night and empty Styrofoam coffee cups littering desktops? That sucking sound you hear is either money draining out of your pocket or life draining out of the planet, depending on your point of view. Here are some ways to stop both:
Stop the paper chase
Purchase paper with the maximum available recycled content, but don’t consider buying recycled paper to be a license to waste it. Before you hit the “print” button, ask yourself if printing the particular document on your screen is absolutely necessary. Then consider if you can print it double sided or if you can re-use the back of something you printed previously and no longer need. Some printers support duplexing, which means printing on both the front and back of the paper. This is especially useful when printing long documents like an employee handbook or multi-page forms. It can save on mailing too if you send contracts or forms “snail mail.”
If you do need to print something out but it just has to be readable, not beautiful, use the printer’s toner saver or economy print setting. This uses about 50 percent of the toner that normal printouts use.
Sending office memos and messages via voice mail or email, or posting one copy at a central bulletin board rather than printing a copy for each individual employee saves on paper, toner and your back because you’ll have lighter bundles of paper to carry to the curb on recycling day.
Reduce fax-related paper waste by using a fax-modem and by using a fax cover sheet only when necessary. Fax-modems allow documents to be sent directly from a computer, without requiring a printed hard copy. Eliminate fax cover sheets by using Post-it style fax labels. Use the backsides of printed sheets or outdated letterhead in plain paper fax machines. And encourage communications by email rather than fax whenever possible and then read those email messages onscreen and determine whether it is necessary to print them. If it’s not, don’t! If it is, again … use paper otherwise headed for the door.
Turn it off
Set all computer monitors in the office to go to sleep after being idle for several minutes rather than letting screen savers run for long periods of time. This “stand-by mode” does consume power, however, so be sure to shut machines down completely at the end of the day to save the most energy. To save time too, plug all of your office electronics into one power strip. With only one switch to hit, you’ll be out the door sooner. Also be sure to turn off lights, coffee makers, space heaters, radios, the cellphone charger and anything else that gobbles energy needlessly after hours. If you or your employees simply can’t remember to turn things off every night, consider putting lights on motion sensors and other electrical devices on timers to turn them off automatically.
Five more quick tips:
1. Get an energy audit. Many local utilities offer businesses free on-site consultations on how they can reduce energy usage and save money.
2. Don’t be a drip. Close the taps tightly in the office restroom after use and have serious leaks fixed promptly. Just because you aren’t there in the middle of the night to be driven crazy by the dripping noise doesn’t mean it isn’t a nightmare; one drop wasted per second wastes 2,200 gallons per year.
3. Paint the office “green.” If the office is looking shabby and you want to paint, check with local municipal governments to see if there is a recycling center in your area where people drop off partially used cans of paint for other people to take either for free or a nominal fee. The office isn’t your living room so the color doesn’t have to be trendy or perfectly coordinate with the sofa pillows, right? In addition to saving money you’ll have used up something that may otherwise have been a source of pollution.
4. The envelope, please. What do your employees do with the envelope their paycheck comes in? Throw it in the garbage? On the floor? Out the window of their truck? Ask them to give it back after they remove their check so you can reuse it. It’s what’s inside that counts. Even though it doesn’t save me any money, I do this at the bank. After the teller cashes my check and sends me the cash in an envelope, I empty the envelope and send it back. Why do I need it flying around inside my car? If you have a lot of employees, look into eliminating both the envelope and the paper check entirely with direct deposit.
5. Eat green. Did you ever finish a fast food meal at your desk and realize the pile of paper and plastic waste is bigger than the amount of food you just ate? And possibly tastes better too? Bring lunch from home in washable reusable containers. Make it healthier than a burger meal and you might eventually look and feel better too.
These changes in office operations are simple yet can have a big impact. If you don’t believe that, consider this tidbit from Friends of the Earth: This federation of environmental groups claims if 10 million office workers used one fewer staple a day we could save 120 ton of steel a year. That’s enough steel to make a hundred hybrid cars for Al … or one really big SUV for Rush.
About the Author
Writer Judy Kneiszel has operated her own small business for 15 years and is familiar with the many rewards and challenges of business ownership. Write to her with questions, comments or topic suggestions at thewordhouse@ameritech.net.
