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It’s So Easy to Have a Green OfficeIf Kermit the Frog, the Muppet from “Sesame Street,” were a regular fixture in TV-land today, he’d be crooning the opposite of his 1970s hit, “It’s not easy being green.” For businesses of today are beginning to discover that it’s not only easy to adopt green practices, but it also makes a lot of economic sense. Take the office alone. There are dozens of ways to reduce waste and improve resource efficiency, while reducing costs. These work whether yours is an office of one or of hundreds. Consider the following practices (only a beginning), and see if you’re doing all you can to “green up” your office. Notice your printing practices. How often do you reprint things because you got the margins or paper size wrong? Before you print, preview your document thoroughly to make sure you have the right font or correct paragraph inefficiencies (so that you don’t have to reprint to get rid of the three words that ended up on the last page). Print drafts on recycled paper. Remember that “draft quality” printouts save toner. As much as possible, print final documents on front and back. Consider your copier. Avoid making multiple copies of large documents, distributing instead a summary page and making the entire document available online or by email. Use the phone and email, rather than distributing a memo. Use double-sided copying. Circulate copies of reports rather than issuing separate copies to everyone. Make sense with your mailings. Start by updating your database to reflect the most current addresses possible. Consider sending electronic invoices and statements. Reduce the use of fax cover sheets. Buy recycled products and reusable items. Refill pens and tape dispensers. Reuse cardboard cartons, file indexes, file folders, and re-sealable envelopes and packaging. Make notepads out of scrap paper. Ask suppliers to take back packaging for their own reuse; while you’re at it, ask for a credit for doing so. Share staplers, hole punches, paper cutters and the like. Does everyone really need their own? Recycle as much as possible. This includes: paper, cardboard, plastics, cans, glass, ink and toner cartridges. Take advantage of electronics recycling efforts in your community, where you can bring mobile phones, batteries and office equipment. If your local trash collection does not provide for recycling pick-up, get active about making that happen in your area. In the meantime, you may have to search out other options. Conserve energy. Use natural light when possible, and energy-efficient lighting when needed. Enable all available energy-saving features on computers, printers, copiers and other office equipment; turn them off when not in use. Use the stairs rather than the elevator! Adjust your thermostat up or down a little, especially at night, to reduce energy consumption. (Could you wear a light sweater in the winter and still be comfortable?) Make it all a game. See who can come up with the best ideas or the biggest savings. In the end, we all win.
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