How to Go Green at Work

When it comes to going green, it makes sense to consider the place where millions of us spend the bulk or our days: the work place.  For many, this means an office space, a building set up to accommodate the daily lives of dozens if not hundreds of people. But that’s not everyone’s work place.  Whether you work in a huge building or a tiny shop, there are some basic ways you can improve the ecology of your job atmosphere. Cutting the Commute This point can not be overstated: even though corporate eyes are slowly being opened, a lot of us are in denial about the importance of everyday work transportation in the environmental equation. Whether it’s bikes, carpooling, telecommuting, four-day weeks, or any combination, there are a lot of options out there for cutting down on that daily car ride that pumps greenhouse gases, consumes oil resources, and costs the commuter major dough. For those who don’t like the idea of putting the pedal to the metal, there are electrically assisted bikes and other “personal vehicles” to get your daily ride trimmed down to drastically reduced fuel consumption levels. For others, moving closer to your job can be a great solution, a time saver, a gas saver, and a move toward better stewardship of our world’s resources. Other creative solutions can help by reducing gridlock: talk to all levels of management about four-day weeks or staggered work schedules that allow workers to avoid “rush hour”.  Hopefully, with a greater focus on alternatives, lots of work places can make this dreaded commuting crunch a thing of the past. Cut Office Energy Use Another big energy saver is in hardware and lighting: using products like compact fluorescent light bulbs can save a lot of electricity in the office.  Auto shutoff hardware for computers and printers can also cut energy use. Good ventilation and climate control systems cut down on heating and cooling and help maintain worker health. Paperless technologies help offices stop churning out loads of waste paper. Re-Think Lunchtime Every day around noon, the fast food and small restaurant industry around office buildings explodes in a rush of delivery of over-packaged entrees, plastic utensils, bags and receipts, as well as delivery vehicles zig-zagging across the city to bring hot meals to the work force. Are we too busy to consider our own re-usable forks, mugs, or plates?  If it’s not on your agenda to cook for yourself, there’s still a lot that can be done to cut down on lunch waste and promote better ecology in at-work dining. Make it Collaborative One idea runs behind all of these examples of great work place innovation: no one person does all of these things by themselves.  Sure, an individual worker can green their own work routine, but often, the bigger results come from places where workers reach across management levels, departments and teams to brainstorm comprehensive solutions for bringing everyone to the table.  Talk about the future with all of your co-workers, from the big boss on down, and come up with the improvements that work best for your team.