Being Green at Work

Interesting Facts and Tips (1)Going Green at Work

Coffee Cups - Coffee has become an indispensable part of the working day.  In America we throw away 25,000,000,000 styrofoam coffee cups every year!   Instead of using cardboard or styrofoam cups, use a ceramic coffee mug.  Over its life span, a mug will be used 3,000 times, resulting in 30 times less solid waste and 60 times less air pollution than using the equivalent number of cardboard cups.  Ask take-out coffee shops to serve your favorite brew in your own favorite mug.

Printer Ink Cartridges – Dire warnings against reusing printer ink and toner cartridges contribute to more than 300 million plastic printer cartridges ending up in landfills each year; that’s about 8 cartridges every second.   There is no reason why a cartridge can’t be reused up to four times.  You will cut waste and save up to 90 percent on the cost of a new cartridge.  TIP: Be sure to use a reputable company that will refill or remanufacture your printer cartridges and is prepared to offer a written guarantee against printer damage.

Paper PilePaper – Despite advances in technology, the paperless office remains a futuristic fantasy, with the typical U.S. worker using a whopping 10,000 sheets of paper – as much paper as is produced by pulping a full-grown tree – each year.  Much of this paper comes from native pine forests and is chlorine-bleached, a process that produces toxic dioxins. TIP:  To cut down on paper, use both sides.  Set the printer of photocopier defaults so that you have to choose not to print double-sided.  Print out only what is necessary, and proofread documents carefully on your computer screen to avoid having to print multiple copies.  Save single-sided scrap paper for taking notes or for use in the photocopier or fax machine.  Keep a paper-recycling bin under your desk and in communal printing areas, and encourage your colleagues to recycle.

Trees logged from forests account for
more than 71% of office paper used today,
with 8 million tons of copy paper used in the U.S. every year.
That's equal to 188 million trees.


Recycled Paper – A business is not truly recycling unless it buys recycled products.  Recycled paper uses up to 90 percent less water and half the energy required to make paper from virgins lumber and produces 36% less greenhouse gas emissions, yet less than 9 percent of the 8 million tons of printing and writing paper used in the U.S. each year is recycled content.  While recycled paper was once avoided because they looked inferior, it is now often hard to tell the difference, with manufacturers providing recycled paper for virtually all office functions.

Lights – Leaving lights on after all the workers have left, combined with all the computers left on standby, can double a company’s energy bill.  U.S. commercial buildings alone generate 18 percent of the country’s CO2 emissions.  Unnecessary lights also generate unnecessary heat, requiring the air conditioner to work overtime, using even more electricity.  TIP: Ask your building manager to turn lights off at night or to install movement activated sensors.  Take the initiative by placing reminders near light switches in the area where you work.

Plant in WindowIndoor Air – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks indoor air pollution as one of the top five environmental health risks today.  The air inside a sealed, energy-efficient building can be 25 to 100 times more polluted than outside.  The EPA estimates that the negative impact on workers’ health costs the U.S. economy between $17 and $43 billion each year.  TIP: Indoor plants are natural filters, absorbing airborne pollutants and radiation from computers while replenishing oxygen levels.  Research has found that indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats, and other cold-related illnesses by up to 30 percent, cutting down on absenteeism.

Computers – Computers and monitors use more electricity than all other office equipment combined.  The average computer left on all day, every day uses nearly 1,000 kilowatts of electricity over the course of a year, producing more than a ton of carbon emissions.  In contrast, a computer switched off at the end of the day uses less than 250 kilowatts – and significantly lowers energy bills.  TIP:  Turn off your computer on nights and weekends.  If you are away from your computer for shorter periods, put it in sleep mode or enable your PC’s power management features, which will reduce energy use to about five percent of full operating power.

Call An Auditor – Ask your senior management to commission an environmental audit of your business and the building you work in.  A trained environmental consultant will assess the amount of energy, water and materials your company uses, including where these resources come from and where they end up as waste.  An environmental audit can highlight areas of inefficiency and excessive waste, and provide solutions that reduce resource consumption and save money. 

EPA Encourages Americans to Bring their Green to Work

On September 9, 2008, EPA revealed a new online tool, Energy Star @ Work, to provide Americans with tips and information on how to save energy and protect the environment in the workplace. Energy use in commercial buildings and manufacturing plants accounts for nearly half of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 50 percent of energy consumption nationwide. With the average American worker spending almost 8 hours a day at their place of employment, the workplace offers a unique opportunity for people to make a significant impact in the fight against climate change.

"Millions of Americans are already doing their part to save energy by being more energy efficient at home," said Robert J. Meyers, EPA's principal deputy assistant administrator for Air and Radiation. "With help from EPA's Energy Star program, we can also take many of the same energy efficient steps in the workplace."

Energy Star @ Work is an animated image of a typical office work space with tips and links to valuable information employees can use on a daily basis-from starting a Green Team in the office to simply changing a desk lamp bulb. Simple actions by employees can make a big difference in the overall energy performance of a building. Some of the tips included in the Energy Star @ Work tool include:

  1. Replace the bulbs in desk lamps with Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs. These light bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. Energy Star qualified lamps and light fixtures also are available for even more energy savings.
  2. Use a power strip as a central "turn off" point when you are done using office equipment to completely disconnect the power supply. Even when turned off, electronic and IT equipment often use a small amount of electricity when plugged in.
  3. Remember to turn off your lights when leaving conference rooms and your work space, especially at the end of the day.
  4. Use Energy Star qualified battery chargers or power adapters which, on average, use 30-35 percent less energy than conventional models. Don't forget to unplug battery chargers or power adapters when equipment is fully charged or disconnected from the charger.
  5. Get involved! Create a Green Team with your co-workers, help reduce office waste, and set a goal to earn the Energy Star label for your building.

EPA also offers energy-saving tips for building managers, executives, and small businesses; information on taking the Energy Star Challenge; and a downloadable tip card to pass along to friends, family, and coworkers.

Take the ENERGY STAR Challenge (2)

If the energy efficiency of U.S. buildings improved by 10 percent, Americans would save about $20 billion and reduce greenhouse gases equal to the emissions from about 30 million vehicles. (2)

What is the ENERGY STAR Challenge? (2)

The ENERGY STAR Challenge is a national call-to-action to improve the energy efficiency of America's commercial and industrial buildings by 10 percent or more.

Who Can Take the Challenge? (2)

Whether you're associated with a small school or a large corporation, a local government or a national association, a community hospital or a hotel group, a manufacturing plant or an architecture firm — you can be part of the ENERGY STAR Challenge and help improve the energy efficiency of America's commercial and industrial buildings by 10 percent or more.

For more information about the Energy Star Challenge, visit www.energystar.gov.

Additional resources:

  1. Computer Recycling –
    1. www.computerrecyclingdirectory.com
    2. Electronics Industries Alliance – www.eiae.org
    3. Frederick County Landfill
  2. Conservatree – www.conservatree.com
  3. www.reduce.org
  4. Phone Recycling –
    1. Collective Good International – www.collectivegood.com
    2. The Charitable Recycling Program – www.charitablerecycling.com

Reference Sources: back to top

  1. Bonnin, Jenny and Kim McKay
    True Green
    Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2006
  2. "The ENERGY STAR Challenge"
    www.energystar.gov
    2008. ENERGY STAR. 25 Sept. 2008
    http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=challenge.learn_challenge