Eco Tips:
Eco Tip #1 – Four Small Facts About Printer Cartridge Recycling
Eco Tip #2 - Be a Star – Buy Energy Start Products
Eco Tip #3 - Breathe Easy – Keep the Office Air Clean
Eco Tip #4 - Clean Conscious Cleaning
Eco Tip #5 - Digitize to Maximize
Eco Tip #6 - Plug-in to eCycling
Eco Tip #7 - Get Energized
Eco Tip #8 - Get the Green Light
Eco Tip #9 - Leave a Big Mark—Not a Big Footprint
Eco Tip #10 - Paper 101
Eco Tip #11 - Recycle. Recycle. Recycle.
Eco Tip #12- Sitting Pretty
Eco Tip #13 - Some Things To Consider
Eco Tip #14 - Spend Smart on Green
Eco Tip #15 - Use and Re-Use
Eco Tip #16 - What is Recycled Paper?
Four Small Facts About Printer Cartridge Recycling
- It takes 3 oz. of oil to make an inkjet toner cartridge and 3 quarts of oil to make a laser toner cartridge.
- Over 38,000 tons of plastic and metal are saved from landfills in the U.S. each year due to cartridge recycling.
- In just 7 months, cartridge recycling would save 11 million gallons of oil—more than what was spilled by Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989.
- 92% of inkjet cartridges and 60% of laser cartridges are not recycled…but could be.
Be a Star—Buy Energy Star
The next time your office is in the market for computer equipment, printers, fax machines, kitchen appliances or even light bulbs, look for Energy Star certification. Energy Star products are among the top energy performers on the market.
One example of why is that some Energy Star products power down automatically when not in use—conserving up to 75% of electricity compared to standard models. They reduce pollution, lower energy bills, generate less heat and have a longer life span than other equipment. See www.energystar.gov for more information.
Breathe Easy
Here’s the air in any office setting that can potentially contain: ozone generated by photocopiers, dust, allergens, outdoor fumes brought in by the central air conditioning; gaseous chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from furniture, paint and carpeting. And then there’s the stuff dragged in on our shoes; oil, antifreeze, particulate pollution, pollen, etc. All combine to create unsafe air quality and contribute to Sick Building Syndrome. What can you do to clean up the air in your workplace?
- Look for low VOC alternatives in carpets, adhesives, paints and even furniture.
- Help keep what’s on the sidewalk out with quality doormats or entryway track-off systems.
Remember, less dirt also means less sweeping, mopping and vacuuming, which means less work, water, energy and fewer chemicals.
Clean Conscious Cleaning
Five billion pounds of chemicals are used annually for institutional cleaning. The good news is that the risk of injury from chemicals and environmental damage can be dramatically reduced by replacing the most dangerous cleaning products with safer ones.
- Opt for solutions that are non-toxic, non-VOC (volatile organic compound), water-based, biodegradable, phosphate- chlorine- and ammonia-free and those with ingredients derived from renewable resources, not petroleum.
- Buy in concentrate and bulk so that shipping and packaging waste is reduced.
Digitize to Maximize
Did you know that one 2GB flash drive can store up to 20 yards of books? Storing data digitally frees up space, time and money. It minimizes clutter and helps eliminate unnecessary paper waste. Plus, transferring data digitally or transporting digital store devices is infinitely easier and less costly than transporting files, cabinets and furniture, should your office be moving to a new locale.
Easy Everyday Ways To Go Green:
- Turn off lights when not in use
- Turn back or turn off heating and cooling equipment when less is needed
- Take the stair instead of the elevator
- Turn your monitor off instead of running your screensaver
- Recycle fluorescent bulbs properly to prevent hazardous mercury from entering the environment
- Use electronics that are rechargeable
- Copy and print on both sides of a sheet of paper
- Use refillable pens and markers
- Recycle, recycle, recycle
Plug-in to eCycling
The Plug-in to eCycling Program is a partnership between the EPA and consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers and service providers that offers more opportunities to safely, conveniently and affordable donate or recycle used electronics. For more information go to: US Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov).
ECycling:
Conserves natural resources because recycling recovers valuable materials from old electronics to make new products. As a result greenhouse gas emissions and pollution are reduced, and energy and resources are saved by extracting fewer raw materials.
Protects the environment by reducing the amount of toxic chemicals, like lead and mercury that are leeched into landfills from discarded electronics devices.
Benefits the community by making refurbished, or ready-to-use electronics available to those in need.
Get Energized
Of the $250 billion spent per year on powering computers worldwide, only about 15% of that power is spent computing—the rest is wasted idling. 40% of energy used for electronics is used while these devices are turned off. Obviously, just because a device is turned off or not in use, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t eating up electricity. In fact, even when a computer is switched off, the surge protector can still draw energy—up to 75%.
- Programming your computer to sleep after 30 minutes of non-use can cut power demand by up to 90%.
- Stepping away for longer than 30 minutes? Turn the computer off and unplug the surge protector. (Booting up again uses the equivalent of only two seconds of run time and won’t hurt the hard drive.)
- Monitors are especially big energy drains. Be sure to turn them off after 20 minutes of non-use.
- Printers, scanners and peripherals that are only used occasionally should be unplugged until needed.
Get the Green Light
Making choices when it comes to lighting not only provides energy efficiency and savings, it also adds to the comfort, productivity and ambience of your workplace.
- Replace regular incandescent bulbs and fixtures with Energy Star-qualified compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). CSLs cast a warmer, soft white glow. Although initially more expensive than regular bulbs, they use between 60% and 80% less energy and last much longer (between 6,000 and 15,000 hours compared with about 1,000 hours with incandescents).
- Use task lighting.
- Install dimmers and timers to extend bulb life.
- Don’t underestimate the power of natural daylight, its’ free, it’s pleasant and has been proven to improve worker productivity and customer satisfaction. Also, be sure that walls are painted a light color to enhance the advantage of that natural light.
- Lighting accounts for up to 50% of a building’s energy consumption. By simply turning off unnecessary lights, you can reduce the amount of energy used for lighting by up to 45%.
Leave a Big Mark—Not a Big Footprint
Living and working green means knowing your carbon footprint and taking steps to balance its impact. Offsetting your company’s carbon footprint is the fastest and more economical way to help protect critical forests worldwide, which is one of the more effective solutions to climate change. One way to offset your carbon footprint is to support renewable energy (energy generated from renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal) by buying renewable energy credits (RECs).
Additionally, utility companies may work with industrial and commercial consumers to implement on-site energy-efficiency measures which can decrease usage or shift a portion of it to off-peak hours and rates.
Paper 101
How do you choose paper that is good for the environment and meets your needs? Some things to keep in mind:
First things first, when looking to make and environmentally responsible paper purchase, you’re looking for more than the recycled symbol.
Post-Consumer Waste Content (PCW): The single most important factor to consider is the percentage of post-consumer waste content. Paper with post-consumer content contains recycled fiber from paper which has already been used by the consumer and then collected for recycling. The higher the lever of post-consumer content the better.
Today, more and more products are available with post-consumer recycled content including: file pocket portfolios, hanging file folders and three-ring binders. By using recycled post-consumer content paper, we save trees, water and prevent the air and water pollution, soil erosion and destruction of wildlife habitats associated with harvesting.
Recycle. Recycle. Recycle.
You already know this, so it’s just a reminder that everything from empty ink and toner cartridges (a single cartridge thrown into a landfill can take up to 450 years to decompose) to office paper (115 billion sheets of paper are used annually for personal computers) to plastic bottles (Americans use 3.3 million plastic bottles every hour, but recycle only one in five) is REYCLABLE. 79 million tons; that’s the amount of waste material diverted away from disposal through recycling and composing in one year.
Sitting Pretty
Making environmentally savvy choices in office furniture is getting easier and easier. Whether a piece of furniture is made from wood, cloth, metal or plastic, there are earth-friendly options.
- Opt for modular office suites. These component-based systems let you reconfigure workspaces and mix and match as your needs change, helping to eliminate the need to buy new.
- Use flexible interior features, such as movable walls to help reduce waste associated with renovations.
Don’t overlook the fact that, even if it’s initially more expensive, buying quality furniture that’s durable and can be readily repaired could easily save money in the long run, plus, lesses the chance that it’ll end up in the landfill.
Some Things To Consider
- If every American home swapped five incandescent bulb fixtures for Energy Star CFLs, it would keep one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air.
- Each ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water.
- If every American household purchased one package of 100% recycled napkins, it would save one million trees.
- The number of gallons of gas saved if every commuter car in the United States carried just one more person: 8 billion
- Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt buld for four hours.
- Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags per year. This translates to about 150 bags a year for every person on earth.
Spend Smart on Green
The purchase and use of environmentally-friendly products can have a big impact, and not just on the environment. Buying green affects everything from worker safety to the bottom line.
- Products that are reusable, refillable, more durable or repairable create less waste and are more cost-effective in the long run than disposable or single-use products.
- Manufacturing recycled products uses less energy than goods made from virgin materials. Buying recycled products keeps recycling programs going and saves natural resources.
- Using energy-efficient and water-conserving products saves money and resources
When making purchasing decisions, it pays to do a little homework. Consider the following:
- Is the product less hazardous?
- Is it reusable or more durable?
- Is it made from recycled materials? Do we really need to buy a virgin product when the recycled version is just as good?
- What happens to the product at the end of its life? Can it be recycled? Will the manufacturer take the product pack? Will it need special disposal?
- Does it conserve energy or water?
- Is it made from renewable plant-based raw materials?
Use and Re-Use
Reusing products delays or avoids altogether their entry into the waste stream, so think refillable, rechargeable, not disposable, whenever possible.
- Challenge your associates to think of ways to give new life to used items, for instance, shredded waste paper makes great packing material.
- Setup an area to store and exchange reusable office supplies such as binders.
If you can’t reuse a product, there are usually others who can. Go to www.kab.org (Keep America Beautiful) for suggestions on exchange programs and other reuse strategies.
What is Recycled Paper?
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines require these minimums: 30% post-consumer content for uncoated printing/writing paper and 10% post-consumer content for coated papers.
What is pre-consumer waste?
It includes materials (like unsold magazines and newspapers) that never reached the end-user of consumer. It also accounts for waste from manufacturing, converting and printing processes.
What is post-consumer waste?
The paper was used and returned through a recycling program, thereby diverting it from a landfill or incinerator.
What is virgin fiber?
Virgin fiber has never been used before in the manufacture of paper or other products.
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