Greening your office

We may be living ‘green’ at home, but how does your office or place of work measure up? Many businesses are slow to join the green revolution - keeping the lights and office equipment switched on at all times, printing single-sided pages, encouraging employees to drive by providing free parking and using snail mail instead of opting for paperless communication. We’ve compiled a list of things you can do at work to lighten your office’s ecological footprint.

Work at home and telecommute whenever possible. If you can convince your boss to allow you to work at home even one day a week, not only will you help reduce your office’s energy bill, you’ll save on carbon emissions generated from your commute. Got a stingy employer? Consider walking, biking or taking public transit to the office. Did you know that BC Transit offers an Employer Pass Program? This initiative allows organizations that meet the criteria to provide their employees with a personalized and non transferable annual transit pass through the convenience of payroll deductions. If your office has a minimum of 25 employees willing to commit to the program for at least one year, perhaps this is a good option for your staff. The passes are good for all transit options (West Coast Express, the Seabus and conventional buses) and it is offered at an approximate savings of 15% over the cost of purchasing standard monthly passes.

Go paperless. Use email and instant messaging instead of paper correspondence and print selectively when necessary. Nearly 40% of trees logged in Canada’s ancient forests and 65% of trees from Canada’s boreal forests are used to produce pulp and paper. Let’s reduce those statistics. Encourage your employers to buy chlorine-free, recycled papers with a high percentage of post-consumer content (PCR). Grand & Toy and Staples sell office paper and other supplies including envelopes, folders and files and Post-it Notes with at least some PCR content.

If you must print or photocopy, use your copier’s double sided option. Even recycled paper requires a great deal of energy and water to process, so be economical where possible. In terms of record keeping, it will reduce the amount of shelf space required to store files by half. Use discarded paper for scrap, notes and memos.

Turn off your computer when you leave the office. It’s a myth that it requires more energy to power your PC off and on than it does to keep it running. Standby settings continue to draw power even when your electronics aren’t in use. Need new office equipment? Suggest computers, printers and copiers with the Energy Star label.

Ask your manager to replace burned-out bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescents. And do you need every light burning bright in the middle of the day? If your desk gets lots of daylight, take advantage of it by shutting off the overheads.

Host virtual meetings. Save people from jumping in their cars to sit in the boardroom for an hour by video and phone conferencing. This will save loads of time in terms of commuting, too.

Choose fairly-traded and organic coffee and tea for the office kitchen, such as locally roasted Ethical Bean. Ask your boss to stock the cupboards with ceramic mugs and real silverware rather than paper plates and plastic spoons.

Find out how your office is cleaned. Many cleaning companies will use whatever cleaning supplies they are provided with, so encourage your office manager to switch to green, non-toxic cleaners. Vancouver’s Frogfile Office Essentials has a number of green cleaning product options specifically for office environments.

Offset your corporate travel where possible by purchasing carbon offsets or asking your employer to do so. Offsetters Climate Neutral Society sells individual travel offsets. Pass the green by sharing these tips with your colleagues. When it comes to saving the planet, every individual effort counts.