Make Your Office Greener

It's much easier being greener at home, but what about in your work place? There are a few tips to make your office greener and help saving the environment.

Remanufactured inkjet cartridges and laser toner supplies
Each year more than 375 million empty ink and toner cartridges are thrown away, with most of them ending up in landfills or in incinerators. You can help to reduce this harmful waste by recycling your toner and ink cartridges and by purchasing re-manufactured ones. We at Priceless Ink & Toner offer Earth friendly recycled printer supplies for almost all printer brands and models.
According to recent statistics from major supplies' retailers, using a remanufactured toner cartridge can keep about two pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills and save nearly a half-gallon of oil. Many retail stores offer incentive programs if you bring in your empty inkjet cartridges and toner cartridges for recycling. Consider refilling your old ink and toner cartridges yourself to realize substantial savings.

Reduce paper usage
According to The Economist's article from 1980, the average American uses the paper equivalent of nearly six 40-foot trees each year. Despite the increased use of electronic communication, the average American office worker goes 10,000 sheets of paper every year, according to statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency.
You can reduce paper usage by using online office tools to share documents. Or if you need to print your document, make double-sided copies or print on the back of old documents. Recycle unused backs of paper that come to your office in the mail or as flyers for use as notepaper for your office.
Guide books and manuals could be e-mailed to the employees instead of printing a copy to each of them. You can also cut down on paper bills and junk mail.

Reuse products and supplies packages
Most packaging can be re-used several times. When you get a package delivery, save the box, bubble-wrap and cardboard to use in your next shipment. What can't be reused -- recycle

Save on electricity
Use laptops instead of desktop computers whenever practical. Laptops consume five times less electricity. When you set desktop computers to go into automatic sleep mode during short breaks, it can cut their energy use by about 70%.
Shut off lights when you leave a room. Shut off all lights when leaving the building. Purchase Energy Star-rated light bulbs and fixtures which use less energy and last up to 10 times longer before burning out. Consider installing motion sensors or timers on entrance ways.
Make use of natural light whenever you can by opening curtains and blinds during the day.

Get rid of the plastic cups and plates
Encourage staff members to bring their own water bottles and coffee mugs instead of the disposable ones. Provide filtered drinking water for employee use.
Place recycling bins in high-traffic areas of your office and post clear instructions about what can and cannot be recycled in them.

Save on transportation
Think about ways you can cut down on the environmental impact of transportation costs for your staff members -- encourage car-pooling.
Use teleconferencing to reduce travel expenses. Help employees to arrange carpooling or offer incentives for using public transportation to and from work.

Source: Practical Steps for a Greener Office