E-green? I confess to making this term up. We have plenty of other e-something words that somebody made up, so why not me?
Although the terminology might be on the whimsical side, the concept is solid. I'm talking about doing what we can to create an environmentally friendly home office. An "electronically green" office is good for the planet, more economical than a "brown" office and, in some cases, healthier.
Revisiting the Paperless Office
It's time to take another look at the idea of the paperless office. "Completely paperless" may be an unobtainable goal, but we can definitely reduce the amount of paper we go through, and we can buy recycled paper for those occasions when we really must have a printout.
We can communicate via e-mail or IM or text messaging as much as possible to avoid using paper for letters and envelopes. We can file our documents electronically, with backups, to cut down on the amount of paper we store in our filing cabinets. When we must print or fax, we can do double-sided print jobs using both sides of the paper. We can print in "draft" mode to conserve ink, and widen the margins to get more words per page, thereby using fewer pages.
When we fax, we can use a fax modem instead of a fax machine whenever possible, thereby eliminating the need to print out a copy. We can bypass the cover sheet and help the recipient save paper. We can jot notes on scraps of paper, used envelopes, junk mail and the backs of printouts instead of memo pads and sticky notes. When newspapers, magazines and books are available in electronic format, we can use these versions instead of ordering the hard copies. We can print out the parts that we need and read the rest from the computer.
We can make our brochures and pamphlets available from our Web site in PDF or HTML format. Then, we can encourage people to access the electronic versions so we reduce the number of paper copies needed.
Recycle, Reuse and Redistribute
We can recycle wherever possible. We can purchase recycled paper and recycle the paper and cardboard products that come into our home office. We can seek out and choose suppliers that take back packaging materials for reuse.
According to a Web site published by the Australian government, using recycled paper saves trees. The site reports that every 100 reams of recycled office paper that is printed double-sided saves two trees, more than a ton of greenhouse gas, and almost a cubic meter of landfill space, compared to 100 reams of paper that is not recycled or printed double-sided
Although older photocopiers and printers caused paper jams when using double-sided operations, many of today's models guarantee effective performance. Some equipment suppliers specify the brands of recycled paper they approve.
When purchasing office equipment, we can insist that the equipment can handle recycled paper effectively and has the capacity for doubled-sided printing. We can look for fax machines that use plain paper rather than thermal paper. Thermal paper contains more chemicals and higher embodied energy than plain paper, so office paper recycling services may not accept it. We can look for photocopiers that can scan paper with printing on both sides.
We can look for equipment with long-life printing drums and toner cartridges. These are generally cheaper and more environmentally friendly than their short-lived counterparts. We can look for a guarantee that using remanufactured or refilled toner or ink cartridges will not void warrantees or decrease reliability. We can purchase upgradeable computers and other electronic equipment. When necessary, we can upgrade rather than replace. This saves money, while reducing consumerism.
We can recycle office equipment and computers when we're ready to replace them. Many of the larger computer and electronics companies are now offering recycling programs to their customers. You can also donate your old equipment to a charity or organization that accepts older computer materials, either for local use or to ship overseas. They will usually have some restrictions regarding the age of the equipment they accept. For more information about recycling electronic equipment, refer to the Electronic Industries Alliance Web site .
We can use rechargeable batteries for cell phones, cameras and other equipment wherever possible. The initial battery cost may be higher, but since these batteries last longer, we save money in the long run, while cutting down on waste.
Be Energy Efficient
Before purchasing computers, monitors, photocopiers, printers, fax machines, scanners and multifunction equipment, we can look for the Energy Star logo that confirms the equipment meets energy-efficient standards. Then, we can ensure that the energy-efficient features are activated. Some products ship from the manufacturer with these features turned off.
We can use energy-efficient light bulbs. We can contact our civic government to find out where and how to dispose of or recycle energy-efficient light bulbs. Since they contain zinc, they should not be thrown in the landfill site.
We can purchase earth-friendly products, including cleaning supplies, toner and office supplies.
We can turn off electronic equipment when not in use to reduce energy by 25 percent. If we put everything on a power bar, we simply need to turn off one switch. We can turn off our computer at night and save an additional 50 percent.
We can save energy (and acquire more desktop space) by using an LCD computer monitor rather than a standard cathode-ray tube monitor.
We can set the computer monitor to go into "sleep mode" or "standby" if not used for 10 minutes. This reduces power to peripherals, but maintains the memory, so we don't lose our work. If we're using a laptop, using the "hibernate" function will extend the battery lifean added bonus.
And, to clear up a couple of myths, screen savers do not save energy. They use as much energy as a full screen of work and may require considerable processing power. It's better to set our screen saver to "none" or "blank screen." Today's monitors no longer need the "burn-prevention" function that earlier monitors required.
The second myth is the belief that startup current surges consume more energy than leaving the equipment running. Not true. Startup power surges are of short duration and consume, at most, a few seconds of average running time energy. We are better to turn off equipment that is not being used for a few minutes, or switch to a lower power setting.
Lastly, we can schedule more conference calls, videoconferences and Net meetings instead of face-to-face meetings. We'll save resources, time and money by cutting down on business travel.
These suggestions may sound trivial, but in fact, everything we do makes a difference. For more information, Google "environmentally friendly office" or "green office." There is plenty of information available.
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