How Employees Can Save Energy at Work

Depending on the nature of our job we can exert a good deal of influence over our workplace.  Vast amounts of energy and tons of waste are generated in the workplace as would be expected.  So the opportunity is enormous.  Here are some starter ideas for you.  We hope you will help us build this section of our site.  There have to be thousands of ways to get this done.

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(Numbers indicate order in which each idea was added to website.)

141 Work at home Read more

502 Activate the "sleep" feature of your home office equipment   

504 Buy a home close to work Read More

513 Keep a real cup and glass at the office for your coffee, tea and water.  

622 Turn off all the office and building lights at the end of the day   

861 Try to be as paperless as possible Read More

874 Set printers to print on both sides of paper 

Come on now, this is easy stuff.  Print on both sides!  The world uses 300 million tons of paper each year.  The US with has 5% of the world's population and uses 30% of the paper products.  Vast amounts of water is used in production along with toluene, methanol, chlorine dioxide, hydrochloric acid and formaldehyde which are released into the air and water from papermaking plants around the world.  The papermaking industry is one of the most polluting.  Click the 'both-sides' button for crappy sakes.

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885 Use public transportation to get to work  

892 Try not to print in color

893 Print in draft mode as often as possible  

894 Recycle ink and toner cartridges Read More

897 Have your check directly deposited instead of mailed to you  

898 Use one paper towel when drying your hands  

899 Shred old paper to use as packing material  

900 Save and reuse old boxes  

902 Use old paper for scrap paper: notes etc  

903 Stop using desk lamps and rely on overhead efficient lighting  

904 Turn off projectors and screens in conference rooms when not in use  

906 Don't smoke in or around the building  

907 Don't use Aerosols at work Read More

909 Put a plant in your cubicle Read More

910 Drink from a fountain instead of bringing water bottles  

911 Use rewashable napkins instead of paper  

921 Use Drop Box or Google Docs to share documents in the office instead of printing  

922 Use your filing folders a second time by renaming them  

923 Get removed from mailing lists that aren't useful  

1017 Cut used paper into squares for note paper

1090 Open the windows when it makes sense

1055 Encourage colleagues to use stairs instead of elevator

1106 Ask your employer to consider flex schedules or telecommuting

1153 If you only need one page of a document then just print that one

1157 Use dropbox, trello, google docs etc instead of faxing

1158 Move docs around the office with thumb drives and not with paper documents

1225 Organize a work-place environmental giving program

1227 Lobby your employer to match employee giving for the environment

1497 Have appropriate environmental costume day at work Read More

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