I know that Earth Day was technically yesterday, but we’re celebrating it today at work. We have a tenant event today and plan on sharing ways that they can go and stay green in the office. This is a topic people have gotten more and more comfortable talking about at work as the years have gone by, and many companies have actually implemented a few of these tips in their offices.
Get rid of disposable cups. It might seem like a big investment up front, but you’ll be saving money down the line and putting less trash in landfills by purchasing reusable cups. We have company branded Tervis tumblers and coffee mugs in our breakrooms, but I often use the tumblers and mugs I’ve brought from home. My monogrammed Yetis and other cute mugs are on steady rotation in the office.
Reduce your paper usage by printing on both sides of the page. Now this might not always be the best idea, but in most cases, you can print on both sides of the paper. In fact, the big multi-use we have on our floor has 2-sided printing as the default!
Utilize file-sharing options like Dropbox or OneDrive. We have a shared drive that I can access when I’m hard-lined into our network or if I remote in, but I don’t always feel like doing that. Instead, I use my OneDrive and cut down on the paperwork I have to bring home.
Plug your electronics into a power strip. This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be shocked at the number of people who are still using multiple outlets for their electronics. Not only does it make finding your phone charger easier at the end of the day, but it makes it easier to turn off your devices at the end of the day.
Turn off the lights when you leave a common area. Plain and simple. Flip the switch when you leave the conference room; it takes 2 seconds.
Put your computer to sleep when you step away for long periods of time. I always make sure that I at least lock my desktop when I step away, but if I’m going to be gone for longer than 10 minutes then I will put it to sleep. I do the same for my Macbook. I have it set on a timer to automatically go to sleep if I haven’t done anything in 15 minutes.
Stop using bottled water. We have a filter on our sink that we use to refill our cups and we also keep cans La Croix stocked for those of us who want carbonated water instead…and we recycle those cans!!
Recycle. This probably goes without saying, but recycle any and everything you can.
I hope these tips are helpful for y’all and that you guys do your part and take care of this planet that we share.
[…] It was memories like that and more that brought me joy during the sadness I was feeling, but like I said it took some years before I was able to do more than stew in my feelings of grief on this anniversary. Now I have other things to keep my mind busy, work being a big one and with that comes Earth Day celebrations. I’d originally planned on sharing some Earth Day tips with y’all today, kind of like the tips we’d share with our tenants but that idea got nixed because I woke up in my feelings. Instead, I’ll link a past post I wrote and encourage y’all to check it out and do your p…. […]