Brighton Peace and Environment Centre
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How to Green Your Office
This article gives practical tips to make your office more environmentally friendly. The first step is to convince staff and management - it is their support and enthusiasm on which the 'greening' of your office depends.
Paper
Each office worker scribbles his or her way through a staggering two trees-worth of paper every year! A massive 80% of office waste consists of stationery, so there is huge potential for recycling.
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Purchase recycled paper that is totally chlorine-free during production. Recycled envelopes, fax paper, labels, files, flip charts, storage boxes and sticky notes are available, so there’s no excuse!
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Buy envelopes without plastic windows, and non-glossy paper, as these are much easier to recycle.
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Purchase photocopiers and laser printers with duplex (copying on both sides) capability.
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Save paper by double-sided photocopying and printing. Set the photocopier to print both sides as standard.
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Only print things if absolutely necessary.
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Re-use paper that has only been printed on one side for fax cover sheets and notepaper.
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Label your publications with relevant environmental information about how it was produced.
Energy
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Encourage staff to switch off lights, computers, photocopiers and other electrical equipment at night.
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Enable energy-saving features on all computers and copiers.
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Replace normal filament bulbs with energy-efficient alternatives. They consume 80% less energy.
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Put the monitor to sleep rather than use screen savers: this consumes less energy.
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Consider energy-efficiency when purchasing new equipment. Give preference to equipment with low power stand-by or sleep features.
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Keep an account of how much electricity is used by the office, and set targets for reducing consumption to a practical level.
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Make sure external doors and windows are draught-proofed.
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Regular maintenance of your heating system can improve efficiency.
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Change to a green energy supplier, which often costs little or no more than your regular supplier. Check out (External)
Ecotricity
,
(External)
Good Energy
and (External)
Juice
.
Reduce, re-use, recycle
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In preference to recycling, try to reduce your consumption and re-use materials wherever possible.
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Recycling collection boxes should be situated in visible areas close to workstations, printers, copiers etc. The more convenient they are to use, the more people will use them.
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Provide clear notices stating what is and isn’t recyclable.
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Don't dump used printer, fax and photocopier cartridges - most suppliers and many charities collect returns.
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Make use of computer and electronic recycling schemes for old equipment.
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Have a garden composter for organic waste like teabags and fruit peelings.
Travel
The number of private cars in the UK has risen from 2 million in 1952 to around 25 million in 2005, resulting in increased congestion, road accidents, and pollution levels.
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Promote public transport by advertising bus and train timetables.
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Set up a car sharing scheme.
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Encourage people who live short distances from your workplace to walk or cycle: make space for cycle parking and organise a 'cycle to work day'.
Financial services
Many high-street banks are unethical, often investing in environmentally and socially irresponsible projects. Consider switching to companies that actively promote and invest in ethical projects.
Useful contacts
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( Tags:
Waste and recycling
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Brighton Peace & Environment Centre,
Address: 39-41 Surrey Street, Brighton, BN1 3PB. United Kingdom.
Tel: UK (01273) 766610
Email: info@bpec.org
Web: www.bpec.org
Company Registration No. 6166971
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