Going Green at the Office

Happy Earth Day!
On Mother’s Day, we take the day to celebrate and appreciate our mothers but that doesn’t mean we don’t celebrate and appreciate them any other day of the year. Same goes for Earth Day. We love, appreciate, and support environmental protection year round.
As a company, there are a lot of things you can do every day to keep the world green. Here are a few that we regularly practice:

Reduce
• Try to make two-sided copies when printing. This may seem minor but think about how much your office prints in just one day. According to the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year.
• Subscribe to paperless billing when appropriate and unsubscribe from any mailing lists you hardly read or no longer want to receive materials from like promotional magazines.
• Proof documents before printing to reduce errors.
• Use a company bulletin board to post announcements and events instead of printing multiple copies.
• Use ceramic coffee mugs instead of paper cups
• Digitalize employee handbooks or manuals or other common documents for people to access online instead of printing multiple copies.
• Encourage carpooling when appropriate and consider energy efficient company cars
• Switch to LED bulbs. Take advantage of natural lighting and switch off lights when not needed.

Reuse
• Get the most out of paper by reusing the back side of unwanted papers. At Earthadelic, we reuse (non-sensitive) papers for notes and memos instead of throwing them away.
• Reuse boxes when mailing
• Purchase/lease used office equipment like copiers

 
Recycle
• Set up recycle bins next to your trash bins
• Buy supplies and materials made from recycled materials (like recycled copy paper). You’ll know it’s made from recycled materials if it has a recycled symbol on it.
• Take your ink cartridges to the nearest office supply store to recycle instead of throwing away. Most stores have reward programs just for this purpose.
The great thing about using green practices at work is that it’s contagious! Once you get in the habit of reducing, reusing, and recycling at the office, it’s bound to trickle into your personal life as well until it because of a habit.
Happy Earth Day, everyone!