Small Business Ideas

Going Green IDEAS for Business

The typical office provides lots of opportunities for going green. From adjusting your office's lighting system through the types of office supplies you choose and use, there are hundreds of things you can do to make your office more environmentally friendly. This green office guide presents going green ideas for the office that are easy to implement and will make a considerable difference over time.

Going Green Ideas for Office Supplies

• Look for and purchase green products such as staple-less staplers and pens that can be refilled repeatedly rather than sent to a landfill.

• Look for and purchase products that are made from post-consumer content (materials have been collected back from previous products and remade into new ones) such as paper and plastic products. Even paper clips with post-consumer metals content are now available.

• Cut down or eliminate your use of products that there are no green alternatives for, such as rubber bands.

• Recycle used office supplies whenever possible.

Going Green Ideas for Printers

• Buy and use recycled paper.

• Save paper by not printing whenever possible. Put a prominent sign up in the office to remind users to print only when necessary.

• Save paper by printing on both sides of a sheet of paper whenever possible.

• Use your printer's eco-mode if it has one.
• Recycle your used ink and toner cartridges.

Going Green Ideas for Computers

• Turn off your computer when not in use. It doesn't hurt it. Really!
• Check computer settings for standby mode - if computers are unused for periods of time they should be set to go into standby mode within a short time.
• Keep computer equipment updated; current new computers and monitors are more energy efficient than those more than a few years old.

Going Green Ideas for Lighting

• Turn the lights off in rooms when not in use. For instance, there's no point in having the lights in an office staffroom or washroom on all day.

• Replace standard incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or LED bulbs wherever possible. These use 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent light bulbs while delivering the same light output

• Do not leave your office lights on overnight.

• Use light wall colors; light paint colours and higher gloss sheens reflect daylight, meaning your space will need less overhead lighting. BC Hydro has an excellent guide for making the most of natural light to light your office space.

Going Green Ideas for Heating and Cooling

• If you have access to your office thermostat, heat your office to a maximum of 21°C when occupied, 16°C when unoccupied. Heating and cooling set points must be set 2 to 3°C apart so that the air conditioner does not cycle (turn on and off) frequently (BC Hydro).

• Use weather-stripping and caulking to minimize heat loss from windows and doors.

• Place a recycling center in a prominent location in your office. If a complete set of recycling containers would take too much room, put a waste paper recycling box near the printers and a general recycling box in the staffroom. Empty the recycling boxes regularly.

• Encourage staff to use "real" mugs, glasses, dishes and cutlery rather than disposables. It takes just seconds to wash a mug.

• Use coffee filters that are made of recycled paper or even better, get a coffee maker that doesn't require paper filters. Compost coffee grounds if possible.

• Make sure your office has at least one large plant in it. They're not only green and pretty but great for recycling the air.

• Make sure that your office is being cleaned using green products that are not damaging the environment.

• Print one copy of memos and other inter-office documents and circulate them rather than printing off a separate copy for everyone.

• Use whiteboards and/or overhead projectors to display meeting agendas rather than printing and distributing them.

• Get and use a battery charger; using rechargeable batteries in equipment will save money over time and help reduce the amount of toxic materials sent to landfills.

• Practice green procurement.

oing Green Ideas for Washrooms

• Use cloth towels or hand dryers instead of paper towels.

• Put a brick in the toilet. This will displace an equivalent amount of water, using less when the tank fills. (The ideal, of course, would be to replace an old toilet with a new ultra-low-flush model.)

• Always turn off taps completely, ensuring that they don't drip. A tap, leaking at a rate of only one drop per second, can waste more than 25 litres of water a day – that's about 10 000 litres a year (Environment Canada).

• Install low-flow faucet aerators to reduce the flow of water from taps.

• Get continually running toilets fixed. They're huge water wasters and it could be just a simple fix.