By now, most Hudson Valley offices have gone green to save the environment as much as their bottom lines. The environmentally friendly choice is often the cost-conscious choice too. Here are ten simple ways your business can “green” your office:
1. Turn off equipment when it’s not being used. Turning off computers at the end of the day will conserve considerable energy.
2. Use clearly defined recycling stations, and encourage your employees to recycle paper, plastics, aluminum, glass, etc.
3. Only print documents if absolutely essential. Instead of printing multiple copies of a document for a presentation, circulate the document, circulate the document digitally. When printing is necessary, produce double-sided documents whenever possible.
4. Shop around for a paper supplier with maximum available recyclable content.
5. Do not leave faucets dripping. One drop per second wastes over 2,500 gallons of water per year.
6. Replace or have your cleaning service replace trash liners only when they are soiled from wet trash, ripped or broken.
7. Encourage employees to bring in a personal mug or glass instead of using multiple paper or Styrofoam cups each time they drink a cup of water or coffee.
8. Purchase garbage bags or liners that contain at least 10% post-consumer used material.
9. Check all office equipment to ensure energy-efficiency options are enabled. Most modern devices with high energy demands are equipped with energy-saving features.
10. Encourage your cleaning company to use non-toxic cleaning solutions or methods. (Hint: If they don’t offer this solution, hire us.)
