Maintaining an Eco-friendly Office

Whether you manage a large company or are an entrepreneur at a growing business of one, you've likely been bombarded with information about the importance of maintaining an eco-friendly office. Going green is no longer just the 'hip' thing to do, it is a vital part of staying competitive and maintaining a responsible face to your organization.

Here are tips for maintain a high eco-friendly office (and saving some money in the process). Use Paper Smarter

One of the areas where many offices fail on their environmental friendliness is the manner in which they use paper. In the course of the business day, it is so easy to waste paper, but a few changes at the purchasing and behavioral level can make all the difference in the world.

- Buy recycled paper and envelopes

- Reuse both sides of the paper whenever possible

- Don't print emails unless absolutely necessary

- Pay attention to what you print! A tremendous amount of waste occurs when people print pages of a document that contain no relevant information.

Buy environmentally friendly office furniture and accessories Energy-efficient computers and lighting equipment emit less heat than other models and therefore greatly reduce the carbon footprint they produce. And how you use these products is just as important. To maintain energy efficiency (which saves you money and helps save the environment!) remember to always shut down all office computers and lighting at the end of the work day, and maintain reasonable temperatures on the thermostat. Just a few degrees warmer in the summer or cooler in the winter can help conserve a very significant amount of energy.

Reuse toner cartridges

Did you know that a toner cartridge thrown into a landfill takes over 400 years to properly decompose? Considering that Americans throw away over 300 million toner cartridges a year, it is easy to see why recycling and refilling toner cartridges is so important to our environment. Use recycled toner cartridges and take advantage of low-cost toner cartridge refilling services to combat the problem.

The power of the car pool

One of the most unique and powerful ways a company to can reduce their carbon footprint is to encourage employees to car pool to work. It cuts down drastically on emissions, and helps save a significant amount of money in this era of the $4.50 gallon price-point. Many innovative companies even offer incentives for those individuals who take part in these programs.

Use green cleaning products

If the cleaning products used in your office are not biodegradable, they can cause a great deal of damage to the environment. Opt for greener, environmentally-sensitive cleaning solutions and products instead. They get the job done just as effectively, but without harming the water we drink or the air we breathe.

Offer telecommuting as an option

With the Internet permanently ensconced in the day-to-day activity of business, many functions can be performed without even leaving the house. Smart offices are helping reduce emissions by telling their employees to stay home one day a week or more and handle their responsibilities online.

Buy products that last

When you buy high quality office furniture and accessories (such as those found here), you are reducing the need to buy new things year after year. This is a crucial point, because it reduces the use of plastic needed to pack your office furniture as well as the fuel required to ship it from Point A to Point B.