Greening your office will make a huge imapct on the environment, create a more conscious work environment, and could even SAVE money. 

Whether you are an employee or a business owner. Here are some ideas for greening your office.

The 12 Step Program

1. Recylcle -  at the very least paper, bottles, and cans. Have separate bins in the office for recycling. If your office building does not recycle, there is still hope. The City of San Jose has a great resource on how to set up a recyling program at your work! (Props to SJ!)

2. Monitor Lighting Usage –

•      Make sure you’re using compact fluorescent or LED lights throughout the office.                                        

CFs use ¼ the energy and last up to 10 times as long as standard lights. LEDs are even more energy-efficient. Over its life span, a fluorescent tube will save 640 kWh of electricity compared with the equivalent 100-watt standard bulb. This reduces the production of carbon dioxide, a green house gas, by half a ton and sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain, by 3 kg. Talk to your building manager and make sure that they understand the money they can save from buying CF or LED lights– they may not care about the environment, but they do care about saving money.

•      Get lighting motion sensors for offices, conference rooms and bathrooms.

3. Shut down your printers, faxes and computers -  According to the Department of Energy, office equipment accounts for 16 percent of an office’s energy use. The use of computers, printers, copiers and fax machines adds up.

• Turning your computer’s sleep mode on when you’re not using it can save energy (screen savers do not save).
• Turn machine off when you leave the office for the night. Some people think that leaving them on saves energy but this is simply not true.
• Activate sleep mode for printers, copiers and fax machines so they’ll sense inactive periods
• Consider consolidating these machines by purchasing a machine that performs multiple office functions.
• Buy Energy Star qualified products to cut down energy use and pollution.
• If possible, use laptop computers rather than desktop computers. Energy Star models use up to 90% less energy.  

4. Kick the bottled water habit.- Americans throw out over 35 BILLION plastic water bottles every year. To learn more about the impact of this Fast Company Has a great article. Offices are major offenders in this area. 

• Sign up for a water delivery service, or get a filter, and have everyone use a ceramic or glass cup.This is an easy thing to do and has a big impact!
• Work with companies like Plant-it Water to provide Eco-Friendly water solutions.

5. Stock your office’s kitchen with reusable plates and mugs rather than paper toss-aways.

6. Eleminate Vending maching waste. - A typical refrigerated vending machine consumes 400 Watts—at a rate of 6.39 cents per kWh, that’s an annual operating cost of $225.

• If your office vending machine dispenses its own cups, make sure they are recyclable or see if the machine allows you to use your own reusable mug instead of dispensing a plastic cup each time it makes a beverage.
• Ask the machine provider to de-lamp the machine, or  add an occupancy sensor on the machine that reduces the vending machine’s power requirements during periods of inactivity. De-lamping vending machines can save $100 every year.

8. Puchase Responsibly - Start with recylcled office papers and other office products. You can get paper, envelopes, folders, pads, post-it notes– everything comes in a recycled version now. 

9. Cut Down on Office Transportation - Carpools and public transportation benefit both the environment and your employees/ co-workers. Driving just 10% less, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 0.2 to 0.8 tonnes per year. Carbon dioxide is the number one contributor to the greenhouse effect, and cars produce about 30 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions.

• Offer carpool-matching services that allow employees to find co-workers that live near them.
• Encourage biking and walking to work by providing bike racks outside of the office.
• Create a reward program for using public transit.
• Provide parking incentives such as closer/shaded parking spots for carpoolers.
• Consider telecommuting to allow employees to work from home one day a week work.
• Use a workweek with four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days.

10. Thermostat tricks of the trade-  Heating, cooling and powering office space are responsible for almost 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S., eat more than 70 percent of total electricity usage and 39 percent of the energy use in a typical office.

• You can save about 10 percent on your electricity bill by just adjusting that thermostat by one or two degrees
• Get a programable thermostat - This device will help you keep your building warm/cool when the people there and save power and money when the people are away.

11. Investigate green power options. Many local utilities offer the opportunity for you to pay just a few dollars extra per month to buy “green power” that comes from wind farms and other sustainable sources. Talk to your building manager about this as an option.

12. Put Someone in Charge or form “Green” Task Team
Perhaps hire an energy manager or transportation coordinator. If you can’t do that put together a task team to help “green” the building.