08.0 Work
- Work at home.
- Telecommute.
- Ask your company to calculate its footprint.
- Ask your company to install bicycle racks and use them.
- Find alternatives to traveling to a meeting: use the old-fashioned phone, use video and web conferencing software. Meet virtually in Second Life.
- Switch your company’s electrical utility provider to green energy via Power Your Way.
- Turn off the screen saver and let your computer sleep during the work day.
- And turn off the computers at the end of the day.
- Send e-mails and electronic copies whenever possible.
- Scan or print-to-pdf everything and store and send as electronic files. Make the paperless office a reality.
- Invoice via email only and pay bills with a credit card or electronically directly from bank account.
- Does it really need to get there absolutely, positively overnight? Use the U.S. Postal Service.
- Need to ship something – consider carbon-balanced shipping.
- Reduce paper usage.[1] Use the Environmental Defense Fund’s Paper Calculator.
- Use 100% recycled paper.
- Preview your documents and proofread them carefully before you print
- Print only the necessary information.
- Copy reports and memos double-sided.
- Circulate, don’t copy, paperwork.
- Reuse tubes and envelopes for mailing.
- Recycle scrap paper.
- Use a laptop in lieu of a desktop.
- Add greenery – houseplants can remove toxins from indoor air.[2]
- Use a mug at work – not paper or Styrofoam cups. And no disposable stirrers.
- Use silverware and plates.
- Drink less coffee.
- No bottled water – drink tap water.
- Talk and share. Start an electronic bulletin board where carbon-reducing ideas can be posted.
- Have your company consider purchasing carbon offsets to balance its footprint.
- Check out ClimateBiz, a green resource for businesses.
[1] The average American consumes more than 700 pounds of paper a year.
[2] Spider plants and peace lilies can remove carbon monoxide, and Ficus and Aloe Vera the formaldehyde or adhesives found in furnishings.
