Greening the Office

Part of the Green and Frugal Series

With green practices the latest rage transforming kitchens, schools, and bathrooms, one of the areas that can also become greener are offices.  Many people spend 8-12 hours a day in an office, either outside or inside their home.  In addition, with so many companies allowing and encouraging employees to form green teams (staff teams that help turn the office green), it’s never been easier to be green.  The following practices can also be adapted for home offices, making the office a greener, healthier, and more sustainable place:

–Learn to reuse materials- this ranges from making 2-sided copies, saving paper clips, using ceramic instead of paper or styrofoam coffee cups, and refilling things like soap jars rather than using small plastic disposable containers.

–Explore the range of recycling– for offices this includes trash, glass bottles, ink toner cartridges, donating or reselling computer equipment, and donating or reselling office furniture.  There are several services that have been set up to recycle equipment and office supplies.  Not only does this cut down on landfill, but reselling items can generate some revenue.

–Encourage the use of non-toxic materials– especially bathroom cleaners, screen cleaners, and toners.

–Look for creative ways to reduce auto and airplane transportation– some interesting ideas I have seen are incentive prizes for people who bike to work, telecommunications equipment for conference calls to reduce traveling to on-site meetings, and telecommuting possibilities, especially a few times a week.

–Encourage others to get involved in thinking of ways to green the office– one of the great developments of green teams has been the community building aspect where staffers feel good about taking an active role in making their company and community better.  If you work out of a home office, it’s great to get older children involved.

shared at Works for Me Wednesday