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Going Green at the Office Benefits More Than the Environment
By Danielle SykesThese days we're being inundated with the idea of "going green". From trendy hybrids to Al Gore winning an Academy award, environmental consciousness is becoming more and more part of the mainstream. We've heard a lot about individual changes around the home, but what about at the office? How can your company stand to benefit from going green?
Why Go Green?
- It helps the environment. With rising oil prices and limited resources, we are being pushed to get creative. Work places are huge offenders when it comes to the environment. According to Time.com, one office worker uses up to 10,000 pieces of copier paper in one year. Heating, cooling, and powering office space is responsible for about 40% of US carbon dioxide emissions and 70% of electricity usage. Computers use nearly $1 billion worth of electricity annually, even when not in use.
- The bottom line. As you can guess from above, companies can save a lot of money on energy costs from simply conserving their energy use. And it goes beyond saving money; many companies are finding ways to increase revenue through environmentally-friendly innovations.
- It attracts new talent and can help with employee satisfaction and retention. According to Time.com, recent surveys have shown that many workers, especially newer generations, prefer to work for environmentally friendly companies. One-third of workers said they would be more inclined to work for a green company and more than half wish their employers would be more environmentally friendly.
- Branding and public relations. Going green can offer a company PR power... touting environmental improvements is can be wonderful publicity for companies, especially as consumers begin to demand greater environmental responsibility. Pat Tiernan of HP, said "We don't do things just to be good. We do select things that have brand value to them, but most of the things that we do, it has to make business sense".
Everyone is Doing it!
According to The State of Green Business 2008 report compiled by greenbiz.com, big businesses appear to be in competition in the race to go green. Large companies like Dell, HP, Xerox, Google, and Wal-Mart are all taking on large projects to become more environmentally friendly. There are easy ways for smaller companies to have an impact on the environment, their bottom line, and their public image.
Was Kermit Wrong?
While there are many large scale ways to be green (solar power, changing production processes), there are a few easy ways to be green at work (cnnmoney.com and forbes.com):
- Turn off the lights. Make it a habit to turn off the lights at the end of the day. Use natural light whenever possible. Buy Energy Star rated light bulbs.
- Power down. Turn off your computer and the power strip it's plugged into when you leave for the day. This can save companies about $75 per computer per year. (Check with your IT Department to make sure the computer doesn't need to be on to run back-ups or other maintenance.) Screen savers don't save energy, instead set your computer to automatic sleep mode when not in use for extended periods of time.
- Recycle office supplies. Print on both sides or the back sides of old documents. Recycle or refill ink and toner cartridges and buy remanufactured ones. Put out a recycling bin for office paper, cans, plastic, etc. Donate no longer used office equipment/supplies to a school or nonprofit.
- Go paperless when possible. If the document can be read or stored online, do it. Email rather than print out information to be collected from or distributed to employees.
Use reusable dishes. Dust off that old #1 Mom or Dad coffee mug instead of using styrofoam coffee cups. Cut down on plastic water bottles by keeping a glass at work. Wash reusable dishes and silverware instead of using disposables.