View Full Version : Work asking for ideas to be more “green”
My company owners have asked for ideas to be more green. There will be some sort of prize - I think an extra day off.
Working from home and company paying for public transit passes are not an option (no public transit by the office).
My first thought is going paperless, but as we have records on customs clearances and related that have to be kept for 5 years, we would have to apply for permission from Customs to keep records entirely electronically. We would need backup servers and such. Just getting the approval from CBP takes months. I am using a free PDF tool online to combine files when they have to be uploaded to Customs system instead of just printing everything out. Takes extra time, but I’m getting faster at it. I print out the bare minimum. Getting coworkers to print out the bare minimum is a challenge.
No single use plastic in break room. We have a dishwasher so that’s easy enough.
Any other ideas?
catherine
10-24-22, 1:51pm
How about if the company buys recycled paper to print from?
Motion sensors to turn on lights
"Green" breaks to encourage employees to go for walks outdoors
Work hours that track with the sunrise and sunset (I know that's out of the box and not practical, but it's still an idea)
Put sustainability tips on the company intranet or website log-in screen.
Have only one child.
The rest is sort of feel-goodism.
Have only one child.
The rest is sort of feel-goodism.
I had none!
iris lilies
10-24-22, 2:16pm
Have only one child.
The rest is sort of feel-goodism.
Why do you get even one in this state of climate emergency? That suggestion will not go over well at her place of work.
Why do you get even one in this state of climate emergency? That suggestion will not go over well at her place of work.
Tell the unwashed and uneducated masses to only have one. The apparently best way to reduce the number of births is to make sure women are educated.
thinkgreen
10-24-22, 2:34pm
I'm not sure where you live Tradd and some weather is more severe than other locations. Some ideas inspired by this time of year and the coming winter:
How about temperature? A lower temperature in the winter and/or keep it a little warmer in summer could save some energy. I remember a poster here that turned down the heat so the entire office wasn't drawing so much heat and used a space heater where it was required.
If you have severe cold and use block heaters on your cars at work, perhaps timers so they don't pull power all day.
One office I worked with kept the photocopier on 24 hours because it took too long to "warm up" in the morning. A timer would have helped that. Are there other items that timers could work to save energy?
I'm not sure where you live Tradd and some weather is more severe than other locations. Some ideas inspired by this time of year and the coming winter:
How about temperature? A lower temperature in the winter and/or keep it a little warmer in summer could save some energy. I remember a poster here that turned down the heat so the entire office wasn't drawing so much heat and used a space heater where it was required.
If you have severe cold and use block heaters on your cars at work, perhaps timers so they don't pull power all day.
One office I worked in kept the photocopier on 24 hours because it took too long to "warm up" in the morning. A timer would have helped that. Are there other items that timers could work to save energy?
Northern IL. My coworkers bellyache about the cold. I can’t take heat. Always seems too damn warm in the office to me. No block heaters needed here b
Priority parking for car poolers. Charging stations for e-vehicles. Roof-top solar or rooftop gardens. Employee vegetable gardens. Zero landfill and net zero CO2 emissions goals. Rewards incentives for green ideas that get used. Low flow water fixtures.
iris lilies
10-24-22, 4:38pm
If your place of work doesn’t provide coffee for employees, I think a case could be made that it saves resources in the long run for everyone to have coffee on site rather than stop for commercial coffee in the morning before arriving at work. I’m not sure it’s a good case, but if you think about all the gas used to start and stop for that coffee trip. And then if employees dirt out of the building during the day to get coffee and it’s always delivered in a paper cup and that creates waste.
At work you can keep coffee mugs that are easy to wash. Or, as in my case, I had my own mug at my desk and I seldom washed it and I lived to tell that tale.
Mainly, I just like my workplace to provide coffee for me so all I have to do is stumble down the hall to get it. So I would make any argument in the world to see if I could get that if I didn’t have it.
Priority parking for car poolers. Charging stations for e-vehicles. Roof-top solar or rooftop gardens. Employee vegetable gardens. Zero landfill and net zero CO2 emissions goals. Rewards incentives for green ideas that get used. Low flow water fixtures.
No one car pools. Not close enough or don’t have schedules that match. We’re in an office condo complex. No charging stations, no room for gardening. No one has an EV. The only ones would could afford it would be the executives/owners and they already get priority parking spots anyway. One of the other businesses in the complex tried to add solar and the association refused to allow it. Haven’t been able to determine why.
Iris, they do have a nice coffee machine. Ceramic cups are provided if you don’t have your own. There’s a dishwasher in the kitchen so that part is easy.
Someone else mentioned the copier/printers. They have an energy saver feature and go to sleep (display off) when not in use. There’s a button you have to hit in the morning to wake them up.
Ditch or downsize the physical office and institute work from home. That's pretty much my answer for all workplace issues. :~)
ApatheticNoMore
10-25-22, 2:39pm
Ditch or downsize the physical office and institute work from home. That's pretty much my answer for all workplace issues.
Where it's possible it has to be the biggest environmental impact, avoiding commutes 5 times a week by everyone. No recycling the paper is going to compare. But yea if you take that one off the table, what's left is small stuff.
Where it's possible it has to be the biggest environmental impact, avoiding commutes 5 times a week by everyone. No recycling the paper is going to compare. But yea if you take that one off the table, what's left is small stuff.
I can see how that might adversely affect the economy with people staying close to home, avoiding fast food and coffee outlets, parking charges, auto repairs, insurance, and stress clinics...
Ditch or downsize the physical office and institute work from home. That's pretty much my answer for all workplace issues. :~)
I wish. Ain’t gonna happen. I had 8 months of working from home. While it was nice during the worst of Covid, I kinda like being in the office. Definitely makes a lot of stuff easier. Just wish I didn’t have the 45 min commute each way.
Have an outside company do an energy audit. A good manager may have already done this since it often results in cost savings.
Have an outside company do an energy audit. A good manager may have already done this since it often results in cost savings.
That’s a good one and easily doable!
The office manager told me today that she’s noticed she’s ordering less paper, so that’s one thing!
ThetisIslander
1-4-23, 2:59pm
I would look to ways that fit with what you do. Look for greener methods to provide your service to the customer. Often greener is also more economical.
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