Climate Change Blog
6 Ways to go Green at office (No. 4 is important)
Going green is becoming a new way of life in start-ups. After Prime Minister Modi’s announcement that government will wave off the taxes for first three years of startups, many entrepreneurs are now thinking of starting their business which eventually demands for new infrastructure for many corporate offices.
It is necessity to go for green offices or buildings which consumes less energy and hence less pollution to the environment. Now we can Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink to eliminate waste and protect our Environment. Waste, we create has to be controlled to be sure it does not harm our Environment.
There are some easy ways to lessen impact on environment by going green, i.e. developing good habits which will eventually end you up in saving some pennies as well.
Less Energy, Less bills
Nowadays in major cities, most of the employees work (hardwork!) on computers, laptops, devices etc. We can set our devices on power saving or energy saving modes so that it can consume less power. Letting them standby for longer duration draw considerable amount of power which can’t be measured.
Also switch off lights and equipments when not in use in offices especially at night. Opt for eco-friendly bulbs i.e. LEDs which currently is being pushed by Indian government. (Fact: Indian Government has saved 1000 Crore rupees by distributing 2 cro...)
Dare to be digital
We all have observed that last page of most of the documents has only email address or web address where printable space is wasted. We can reduce that waste by using “GreenPrint” and “EcoPrint2” softwares which are designed for identifying blank spaces in documents and removing them before printing.
Is it necessary to send meeting agenda or minutes of meeting to printout? Can’t we send emails? Also too much paper is wasted in printing monthly newsletter, manuals and distributing among employees. Instead can we put it online and distribute link to everyone, which can save lot of paper, so the trees.
Go for environment friendly paper
There are some times where we can’t avoid use of paper, we can use recycled paper which are environment friendly. Also look for paper which is made from bamboo, hemp (cannabis plant) or organic cotton. Try to use papers from both the sides i.e. buy printers or Xerox machines that can print on both the sides. Always use smaller fonts, it can save lot of papers each week.
It is very great idea to use cloth towels in bathrooms to save tissue papers.
Instead of using paper cups in office use your own mug so that paper use and waste can be reduced or eliminated.
Stay healthy, live longer
There is so much amount of fuel wasted in traffic every day in cities like Mumbai, Delhi etc. We can reduce this waste by maintaining our car, choosing fuel efficient car, carpooling (BlahBlahCar), Public transit, biking, walking etc. some of the companies giving bonus to the employees who commute to office on bicycle and car-poolers is ways to go green at office. Use stairs instead of elevator.
Working from home
Instant messaging, emails, video conferences, screen sharing and other telecommunication options nowadays make effective communication with no necessity of physically presence. It can save lot of time and fuel. Bonus is you will get to work in your boxers.
Conserve Water
Please stop using bottled water. Use your own bottle or stainless steel bottle to drink water in office. It has been observed flushing toilets is largest water user in office building. We can use water hippos in toilet cisterns to reduce flush volume and save water
If possible reuse waste water for flushing in toilets, floor cleaning or for plants. So that amount of energy spent to make water to drinkable water can be saved.
That’s all from us about ways to go green at office. We encourage you to star implementing simple and small go green ideas in your office as well as daily life before implementing bigger ideas.