Posted on March 5th, 2008
Although many people have great conservation habits at home, like turning off lights when not in use, somehow these practices often seem foreign in our workplaces. Placing gentle reminders next to light switches really makes a difference! Use cartoons, inspirational quotes about conservation, and humour, and you'll find your colleagues switching off lights in no time. Place a different quote next to each light switch, and people will be looking for light switches to turn off just to read a new quote.
Need some quotes to get you started? Here you go!
"If you want to see an endangered species, get up and look in the mirror."
– John Young, former Apollo astronaut
"When we tug ...
Posted on March 2nd, 2008
While it's cool to be single, we're big fans of carpools and not such big fans of single-serving products. An easy way to go green is to put your foot down when it comes to solo-packed snacking. A snack pack of crisps or a granola bar may seem like an easy way to quench a mid-day craving, but the trash produced ends up in the dump. Stick to easy-to-carry fruits (like apples and bananas) or buy almonds, chocolates, and rice crackers in bulk for snacks that carry a double no-guilt serving: one because they're healthy, and another because they're less waste!
Posted on February 26th, 2008
Trying to quit smoking? Good for you! That’s one tough New Year’s resolution… We all know that smoking is bad for your health, but did you know it’s bad for the environment too? Yep. Those sneaky cigarette companies aren’t just throwing in additives that are harmful to you, but are harmful to nature as well. Each time you light up, you’re sending up to 4,000 chemicals into the atmosphere – things like formaldehyde, benzene and hydrogen cyanide, which are all air-polluting, smog- inducing VOC’s. In addition to the toxic smoke, tobacco farming is pretty shady too. Almost 500 different types of pesticides are used to protect U.S. crops from bugs, and ...
Posted on February 23rd, 2008
Did you know that 40% of trash in U.S. landfills consists of paper and that 30% of the timber consumed in the U.S. is used to make paper products? Reduce your impact by reducing how many paper products you consume at work, at home and at play. Should you find yourself unable to part with paper towels, napkins or paper plates (to name a few), try shopping for products made from post-consumer materials (as high of a percentage as you can find), that are unbleached, or whitened without chlorine. Bleaching paper with chlorine creates dangerous toxins such as dioxins, furans and other organochlorines. Once loose in the environment, these chemicals accumulate in both people and animals. ...
Posted on February 5th, 2008
While we know you've cut way back on
printing unnecessarily, chances are you still need to print from time to time. What you might not know is that over 300 million ink cartridges are thrown away every year. Yikes! Help keep all that plastic out of landfills by recycling used cartridges. Recycling helps the environmtn by keeping cartirdges out of the trash and reducing the number of new cartridges that need to be manufactured. Before you decide that it's easier to toss than to recycle, keep in mind that the store where you buy your replacement ink (such as Staples or Office Depot) probably recycles old cartridges for their customers. For busineses, ...
Posted on January 5th, 2008
Copiers, fax machines and printers are a necessary member of every office team, but they sure do suck up a lot of energy. New office equipment has become more energy efficient and includes facilities to automatically reduce power when not in use. This is known as ‘stand-by’ or ‘sleep’ mode. For most office equipment the power consumption in sleep mode is between 5% and 50% of its operating power and takes only about 10 seconds to become ready to work when reactivated. Be sure your office’s equipment is set to stand-by after 10 minutes of disuse, if it isn’t already doing so. To make a bigger impact, be sure to turn off equipment at night and on ...
Posted on November 26th, 2007
Next time you take your food to go, consider bringing along your own reuseable containers rather than using and disposing of new ones every visit. 17% of the average fast food restaurant’s waste consists of take away materials. This amount of waste is an obvious environmental concern but so is the effort it takes to make the products in the first place. Napkins, paper wraps and paper bags stem from intense logging which leads to soil compaction and erosion, degradation of wildlife habitats and sedimentation of water bodies. Paper production requires the use of toxic chemicals and damaging particulate matter often discharged into water bodies. The production of plastic containers and utensils involves ...
Posted on November 24th, 2007
Cut back on your tree-dependency by switching your current calendar over to an electronic one. Electronic calendars are easy to maintain on your computer or your cell phone and feature lots of snazzy features, like automatic reminders for birthdays and important to-do’s. Your email system probably has a calendar feature (gmail and hotmail do), so why not use it? Wouldn’t it be nice to put Dad’s birthday in one time, instead of once a year? Your e-calendar will repeat such events indefinitely. You can even add his picture! Paper calendars are old-school and contribute to more paper consumption. Save yourself some money and the hassle of reordering paper inserts or a new ...
Posted on November 22nd, 2007
Is your workspace or home feeling a little drab or stuffy? Perk things up by placing some houseplants in your office or living room or any small space that contains electrical equipment. Plants generate negative ions that can help counteract radiation effects electrical equipment gives off as well as purifying the air. Studies suggest that plants can reduce dust levels in a computer room by up to 20%. Our leafy friends aren’t only good for air quality, their presence has also been known to reduce human stress and increase productivity - just what the boss ordered. Check out this book:
How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office ...
Posted on November 18th, 2007
Is your wallet busting at the seams? Maybe not so much with money but with paper printouts? While we can’t solve your finances, we can suggest recycling your receipts as they start adding up to a lot of paper over a period of time. If you’re worried about leaking personal info, shred them first or cut them up like you would a credit card. Some merchants will print with soy ink so that your receipt can be composted too. If you think of it in time, ask the cashier if they can skip the receipt altogether or just pay the old fashioned way - with cold, hard cash.
