RECYCLING
Offices are renowned for their wasteful practices, reliance on paper and poor recycling figures. Consider changing your working ways and change the planet for a cleaner and greener working environment.
20 million tonnes of refuse each year is produced in the Uk, 90% of which ends up in ugly landfill sites. Why not buy recycled paper and envelopes, and print double sided to cut waste and lower disposal costs. Every 100 reams of recycled office paper printed double-sided saves two trees, more than a tonne of greenhouse gas and almost one cubic metre of landfill space in comparison with 100 reams of paper not recycled or printed double. Why not strategically place recycling bins around the office to encourage recycling.
Commercial organisations can also make a huge difference by choosing to buy energy efficient office equipment, from light bulbs to computers. Electricity and air conditioning costs will go down as energy efficient appliances produce less heat than ordinary appliances, ensuring the benefits of going green show on the bottom line. For each kilowatt hour of electricity saved, one tonne of greenhouse gas is stopped from entering the atmosphere.
Office computers are rarely used in environmentally friendly ways but if they are switched off outside office hours this can make an enormous difference to the amount of energy they use. Many users are unaware that screen savers waste energy too, so try switching your screen saver to ‘blank’ or ‘none’ instead.
Buying laptops are much more energy and materials efficient than desktop PC’s, making them more environmentally friendly. The same is true of filing systems – electronic copies reduce the amount of waste paper produced.
