On the Ranch

Photo from www.theplanetearth.com.au

1.  Turn off your power strip every evening

2.  Turn off lights when not in use.  Rearrange your office to optimize natural daylight where feasible.  Use compact flourescents in task lighting.

3.  Recycle all that you can – paper, plastic, aluminum, glass, electronics, cartridges

4.  Bring a reusable water bottle to work and keep filling it up – reduce plastic bottles

5.  Use environmentally friendly office products now readily available at most office supply stores.

6.  Print double sided on recycled paper – or not at all if you can avoid it.

7.  Request that your cleaning company use only environmentally friendly cleaning products and methods.

8.  Encourage alternative transportation (carpooling, bus, walking, biking) Reward those that do!

You do the math!

• 55: percentage of water saved by producing recycled paper as compared to virgin paper.  Recycled paper also takes 60-70% less energy to produce than paper from virgin pulp.
• 120: tons of steel saved if every UK office worker used one less staple a day.   
• 8 billion: gallons of gas saved if every commuter car in the U.S. carried just one more person.

Source: How to Green Your Work, by Team Treehugger, Worldwide on 12.10.06

Links for a greener office

• Smart Strip or Wattstopper power strips
• Recycle your cartridges at freerecycling.com, recycle 4 charity.com or Staples
• Find environmentally friendly office products at Office Depot, BuyOnlineNow.com, Greenline, Seventh Generation, and many more
• Find cool water bottles at Klean Kanteen and SIGG