Going Green at the Office

By Donna Cosola, Owner, The Cleaning Authority

Whether you drive to work or telecommute, go green!  Here are some ways to minimize your carbon footprint at the office:

• Switch your Bulbs – Lighting accounts for roughly 35% of electricity usage in U.S. offices.  To help reduce your office’s energy consumption, switch out old incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use 66% less energy and can last up to 13x longer!

• Activate Sleep Mode – Activating “sleep mode” on just 1 computer can prevent roughly 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

• Recycle your E-Waste – According to the EPA, only 18% of e-waste is recycled.  Recycle your used electronics (e-waste) responsibly to keep toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury, beryllium, cadmium, and arsenic out of landfills and potentially out of groundwater.

• Recycle your Paper – Recycle one ton of paper and SAVE 7,000 gallons of water, 17 mature trees, and 2 barrels of oil.  The average American uses 110 lbs. of paper at the office a year.  This means roughly 19 people use 1 ton of paper at the office.

• Green Your Brew – Replace your office coffee with a fair-trade, shade-grown, or organic version.  Rain forests are not destroyed in the production of shade-grown coffee because the beans are grown under a canopy of trees.  Organic coffee is grown without pesticides and herbicides, which lowers the consumers’ and the Earth’s exposure to toxins.

• Add Plants to Your Office – Adding plants to your office cleans indoor air by reducing dust by 20%, bacteria by 50%, and mold by 60%!  One plant for every three people improves air quality.

Stay Green and Clean!

Image courtesy of digital art / FreeDigitalPhotos.net