How can your office benefit the environment?

It seems like everyone is starting to take notice of the chemicals and other things they are using that may be hurting the environment. If you want to take a proactive approach to becoming an energy efficient office, there are a number of things you can do to go green. One of the great things about going green is that it will help to reduce your utility costs and it can also have a positive impact on your employees as well.

One of the most common ways to focus on benefiting the environment is by changing things that you do have a lot of control over like energy consumption. Decreasing energy consumption is one of the easiest things to do and its one of the best ways for you to find a way to benefit the environment. All you need to do is stop using your lights and equipment when you aren't in the room or when it doesn't need to be used. Even unplugging your fax machine and paper shredders will help you reduce energy consumption. Every electrical device will use power even when you aren't using it, which is why you need to have it unplugged so that it's not constantly sucking energy. The other way to reduce energy is by checking out other sources like using the online fax services versus having a physical fax machine. This way you still have the ability to send and receive faxes but you don't need to keep your fax machine plugged in all the time. A number of businesses have installed light systems that will turn off when they are unable to detect motion in the room, which makes it a lot easier for you to save energy. Change your light bulbs to energy efficient bulbs as well because they will be able to save energy costs since they don't take as much energy.

Recycling programs are also easy to install and they can help you to benefit the office and the environment. A truly green office environment is one that not only consumes less energy but also strives to recycle materials as much as possible. Metal and plastic are easy to recycle and paper is also very easy to recycle. Talk to your local garbage company and find out if they have a recycling program and how you can get involved with it to start benefiting your office. There are new printers that actually can erase and re-print so you won't need to use nearly as much paper. You also need to talk to your employees about how much paper they are using and stress the importance of only printing when they absolutely need to print.

Install a water purifier in the office so you are saving water. This way you don't have as many employees using plastic bottles to get their drinking water. This will cut down on the amount of plastic you need to recycle and it encourages employees to drink water versus soda and other beverages. Tin containers are environmentally friendly and it's a great way to reduce plastic and paper cups in your office. Why not offer tin containers as an employee gift? This is a great way to help your cause to go green and to help your employees honor it as well.

One other great way to start focusing on green efforts is by going green with the supplies you order. You should look for suppliers that order recyclable materials and promote a green office as well. Eco-friendly suppliers can help your case as they tend to work harder on producing better supplies and they will be able to last longer.