10 ways to green your office
This year's World environment day was all about turning your daily routine green. As we at "MyHealthPortal" started the monthly green routine with a "Green your life" banner, especially for the most eco-friendly month of the year, here are 10 tips of how to turn yet another aspect of your life green – your workplace.
- For the morning hot drink routine- Using a washable mug is an environmentally-friendly alternative to non-biodegradable polystyrene or plastic cups. Leave a cup and reusable water bottle, at work, to eliminate buying, bottled water or drinks, which get served in plastic cups. 80% of plastic bottles are recyclable but only 20% are actually recycled.
- When you need a pad for lists and messages, turn over an old document and write on the back of that instead and thus reduce your paper usage.
- If there is no office recycling system, start one yourself. Recycling our rubbish actually contributes to reducing global warming emissions. And it is estimated that 75% of what is thrown in the rubbish could actually be recycled, though the current proportion is only around 25% .
- When you absolutely must have a paper copy, make sure you default your printer option to use both sides. This is an easy tree-saver.
- Most computer accessories such as ink cartridges, CDs and DVDs are made of materials that could be reused. Computer cords and speakers are fairly standardised, meaning they can be used for a variety of computer models and makes.
- Google better. Do your internet searches with http://www.blackle.com/, Monitors use less energy displaying the black screened, Google-powered search engine.
- Hide your equipment. We don't mean staples…Large pieces of office equipment like printers, scanners, and fax machines give off gas or other harmful chemicals and create electromagnetic fields that can sap energy. Contain them in a cupboard or room that vents to the outdoor to minimise exposure.
- Lower the carbon footprint of your office by seeing computers, monitors, printers, copiers, speakers and other business equipment are turned to their energy saving feature and always turn them off at the end of the day.
- Turn off all unnecessary lights, especially in unused offices and conference rooms. This is an easy way to save energy.
- If you are in search of something to personalise your workspace, look no further than the humble houseplant. Houseplants are good for the environment because they remove quantities of pollutants present in the air and generally improve the quality of the air around us. Ferns, in particular, are decorative and highly efficient at this task.
