|
|
| *Vultures Knob>>>Bike Lights |
Green Office - Need tips for a 400-person business - green policies-BUT, they have to be cost-effective? |
we are already doing double-sided printing, have recylcing bins for paper and for plastic/aluminum. lights are fluorescent and are on motion detectors. faucets are on sensors and have low-flow valves. we have a limited program to encourage biking/carpooling to work. are there other options that I am missing? ideas like switching to more friendly, yet costly paper, cleaners, etc. usually rejected by upper mgmt., so that makes things more difficult. Have plants in the office. CO2 in, O2 out--gotta love it. Encourage employees to BYO coffee/water cups instead of disposable. Strive toward the "paperless" office..or the "less paper" office. There are tons of results if you google "paperless office." With the room temperature adjustments, please remember to have mercy on your employees who are 40-55ish women. The a/c can be mighty important to them. [Source: my mom.] Environmentally friendly coffee? Read the books: Natural Capitalism & Cradle to Cradle fascinating, very relevant for you, loads more ideas, & available at amazon of course. Remember that "if it glows" it's using energy. Chargers, surge protectors...anything that stays lit or you can feel heat from is using electricity. Choose fluorescent lights with good quality light or they'll make your employees cranky and less efficient. Perhaps a bit out-there for your budget, but sky lights. I understand they're much less expensive than you might guess. Buying good enough quality stuff overall so it doesn't need to be replaced prematurely. Like maybe the slightly more expensive office chair that looks like it will live longer than the cheaper one. Ooh! Ooh! You could have a suggestion box or bulletin board for employees to share ideas on how to be more green! They would be the authorities on waste & solutions. You could recognize or award them. Just don't give them a printed coffee mug.... Check out the link...it's a Pittsburgh business, saw it on a documentary... http://www.gbapgh.org/ If you ship stuff, shred your discarded paper for packaging materials, save boxes that things are shipped in, and have the post office pick up your outgoing packages and mail to save on gas. (they have to come by anyway, and do this for free.) Get a water purifier for tap water, and let employees drink that instead of getting water hauled in or having people bring it in to work in plastic bottles. Recycle printer and toner cartridges for credit at Staples or somewhere and that could be how you pay for more energy efficient items that the management doesn't want to shell out for. How about lunchtime? Is your business located within walking distance of restaurants? If not, let employees who care to, create a lunch group. Instead of everyone driving individually to lunch, have something delivered (pizzas, catering sized portions of takeout). Or, people can voluntarily create their own group to share lunch making with. If there are 20 people who want to have a vegetarian lunch, one day a month, one person would cook for all 20. I had an office where we did this and everyone was so much healthier for it. The gas saved, the extra time to savor a meal and relax instead of trying to drive somewhere for lunch is so much nicer. We used real dishes and washed them in a sink and dried by hand. Cleaners that are the best for the environment are actually cheaper than the chemical ones. Baking soda is an excellent cleaner for sinks, kitchen areas, and also cleans drains when mixed with cider vinegar. Vinegar is great for washing windows. ok... turn the heat down 2 degrees in the winter and up 2 in the summer.. also have employees wear shirts with out ties.. like polos.. then they will not be as hot and the a/c will not have to be turned up. replace pop and junk food vending machines, at least partially, with healthy stuff like juice and real food. install reflective film on south west and east windows to reduce ac needs, (like on cars), turn off / lower heat thermostat in winter and raise in summer with timer. (re: shredding company papers,to use for packing, not a great idea, security risk.) low water flush toilets, solar panels for at least part of lites. shunt controllers for part of heat in winter. proper maintenance schedule. upper management backing up needs of lower level employees to produce less stressed employees. Try putting together a program that encourages carpooling. I don't know how many people you have working there, or what your parking situation is like, but by providing people with information about which co-workers live near them, and then providing incentives for their carpooling (such as some sort of monetary incentive, or choice parking spots) you could reduce their gas expenses as well as the total amount of parking spaces that need to be kept and maintained. The cost of which is surprisingly high. A program such as this was implemented at a university setting and had incredibly positive results, and ended up saving the university money. |
| Tags |
| Bike Tours Trail Map Bike Pedals Bike Lock Bike Lights Bike Helmet Quad Bike Pocket Bike Mini Bike |
Bike Categories--Copyright/IP Policy--Contact Webmaster |