by Michael Smith
One: Print only what really needs to be printed, If you can get away with not printing an email and can answer it without having to refer back and forth to the contents then do not print.
Two: Print on both sides – if feasible – if you do have to print things on dead trees. If you cannot print on both sides then, afterwards, use paper again, either for printing an email, for instance, or for note pages, memos, etc.
Three: Turn press releases, if you happen to be running a media enterprise like me, and/or other stuff that is blank on the reverse and which is on slightly stiffer paper (does not have to be if you laminate like I do but nevertheless) and print business cards on the blank side (obviously the blank side, says everyone).
While I know that you can make your own cards with the Avery software and using Avery or compatible quick break card stock ready made for you to turn into business cards in an instant, nigh on, the problem is that such stock is rather expensive to use.
When following the suggestion above as to recycling other material you will have to make the grid of the business card template, such as, as I mentioned above, Avery ones, visible, as you will need to, after laminating, have to cut them by use of an Xacto knife and a metal guide rule.
Four: Turn off your computer and printer when they are not needed and definitely do not leave anything like that running over night when no one is going to be doing any work on them.
Turn off the screen – by physically pressing the on/off button on the screen – when not using the computer for a while. Do not, however, use gadgets such as the Eco-Button, as they do more harm than good and do not save you energy. The screen takes about 10x more power than the PC (desktop/tower) when the PC is idle and not processing anything. A Linux PC is still more efficient in that matter than a Windows one, as Windows has this horrible habit of continually making copies of everything. Because of that about every 10 minutes or so the hard disk spins and the computer actually does processing.
You may think that, if you are not, say, going to be working on your PC for an hour or so that it is better to actually turn it off and then, when you want to use it turn it on again, but it may, in fact, not be the case. A Windows PC, depending on age and RAM and also operating system, and especially on programs installed upon that need to start immediately, such as protection programs, can take five minutes and more to be fully operational. The power draw during such repeated boot ups and boot downs during a day would more than negate any power that might have been saved from turning the PC(s) off. It is somewhat different, for instance, with Ubuntu Linux which, even with computers of with a slow processor and no more than 256MB RAM will load entirely within about a minute and a half maximum.
Five: Turn off lights in places and rooms that are not in use. Also and especially turn off the lights at night. If you have cleaners in during the night then have someone ensure than, as soon as the building is vacated, all the main lights are turned off. There is no need to leave them on in case a burglar needs light. Burglars, generally, carry flashlights; honest.
There is a case, hence I mentioned it in such a manner, in the UK where the local authority has left the lights on continuously in a disused school just in case someone would break in and hurt themselves in the dark and would then try to sue the local authority. So much for councils having a care as regards the environment.
While they will fine everyone else for running counter to their environmental policies they themselves, often, are the greatest culprits. But, as happens so often, I digressed.
I am sure that there are many more things that can be suggested here and if any readers would love to add anything then please feel free to do so.
© M Smith (Veshengro), October 2008
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Greening your office, greening your business
