Office
Take your carbon dioxide cutting attitude to work with you! The average U.S. citizen spends 1,777 hours at
work every year. Virtually every job requires some use of energy or natural resources.
Find ways to cut your carbon footprint at work. Talk to your employer and coworkers about ways you can
make your workplace more environmentally friendly. It's easy to pass the buck and talk about the huge impacts
commercial activities have on the environment, but remember: your job is a commercial activity!
Use the sleep or stand-by modes if you’re away from your computer during the day.
Computers use as much as 70% less energy when they are sleeping instead of displaying a screen saver(1).
How do I do this?
If you are away from your computer for more than a few minutes, put it into stand-by or “sleep” mode instead of letting the screensaver come on. Don’t forget to completely shut down your computer and turn off the power strip when you leave for the day.
Have your office join ENERGY STAR’s Low Carbon IT Campaign, a nationwide effort to assist and recognize organizations for reducing the energy consumed by their computers and monitors.
Why should I do this?
Screensavers are not a power saving function of your computer. They simply prevent an image left on the screen from “burning” into the screen and can consume more energy than an idle computer. Putting your computer to sleep takes care of the “burning” problem and cuts energy use by 70%. The savings add up quick seeing as computers in the business sector alone waste over $1 billion of electricity a year.
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Shut your computer down completely (rather than leaving it on or in standby mode) when you leave for the day and save 100 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted every year.
How do I do this?
Turn your computer off completely when you leave the office. Computers still run processes and draw electricity when they are in stand-by mode or sleeping. You can also plug all your office electronics into a power strip and switch that off at the end of the day.
Why should I do this?
Computers still run processes and draw electricity when they are in stand-by mode or sleeping. A computer in stand-by mode still uses about 30% of its regular operational electricity. Turning your computer off completely shuts these processes down and saves energy. If just 1000 people did this we could save up to 99,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually!(1)
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Almost 3/4 of all office waste is paper. Print and copy on both sides of the page and cut your paper waste in half.
How do I do this?
Change the settings on your printers and copiers to print on both sides of the page. If your machines don’t offer this setting, you still have options. Get a bin to collect paper printed on one side before you recycle it. Put this paper in the printer or copier tray so you can print on the back.
Why should I do this?
Paper makes up over 70% of all office waste(1). It takes a lot of energy to create, ship and dispose of that paper. Printing on both sides will save your office money and reduce its carbon footprint.
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Stock your office with recycled PCF paper. You’ll save natural resources, energy and prevent dangerous dioxins and toxic pollutants from entering our air and water.
How do I do this?
 Look for the Process Chlorine Free (PCF) logo when you’re buying recycled paper. If you’re not the person in charge of ordering, speak up and make sure that this type of paper finds its way into your office. If you absolutely cannot find PCF paper Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) and Totally Chlorine Free (TCF) recycled paper are still much better than regular or recycled paper bleached with elemental chlorine (more info here). Whatever you get, make sure it’s recycled and don’t forget to recycle your paper waste and keep the process going.
Why should I do this?
Producing one ton of virgin paper requires 17 trees and 7,000 more gallons of water than a ton of 100% recycled paper. Those 17 trees can absorb 250 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly(1).
Taking it one step further and buying Process Chlorine Free paper guarantees that the recycled fibers used in the product meet EPA guidelines for post-consumer content and the paper has not been re-bleached with chlorine containing compounds. Using chlorine to bleach paper produces dioxins and toxic pollutants which do not break down and tend to accumulate in humans. Dioxins have been linked to cancers and reproductive, endocrine, nervous and immune system damage. In fact, the EPA has called dioxin “the most potent carcinogen ever tested in laboratory animals.”
PCF labeling also tells you that the mill does not use old growth forest for any of the virgin pulp and has no previous or pending violations. Check out www.chlorinefreeproducts.org or Conservatree.com to learn more.
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Install motion sensor lighting in offices and bathrooms or turn off the lights when you leave the room. Doing this will save energy and money.
How do I do this?
If the lights aren’t needed, turn ‘em off. When you leave for lunch or for the day - turn off the lights. Bathrooms are especially notorious for being lit unnecessarily. See if you can get motion sensing lights installed in your office or bathrooms.
Note that compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) last longer when they aren’t repeatedly turned on and off. If you have CFLs and are only out of the office for a few minutes (5 or less) it’s better to leave them on.
Why should I do this?
Lighting makes up over a fifth of energy consumption in commercial buildings. Motion sensing lighting can drastically reduce the energy needed to light your office. Simply turning off the lights at night could cut your energy needs in half.
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Air travel is one of the single largest contributors to climate change. Use the phone or internet to hold meetings and cut your carbon dioxide emissions while you cut your travel budget.
How do I do this?
Teleconferencing and videoconferencing have become affordable and extremely productive with the advancements of technology. Talk to your employer about doing business and conducting meetings over the phone, internet, or videophones to keep transportation costs down and reduce your industry’s impact on the environment. Find out more about how teleconferencing works.
Why should I do this?
By most accounts, a cross-country airline flight dumps close to a ton of carbon dioxide per passenger - or about as much as a single tree absorbs over its lifetime (1). Due to their operation at high altitudes, the warming effects of flying are 2 - 5 times greater than other greenhouse gas producing activities. Short flights are less efficient than long ones since take-off requires a comparatively large amount of fuel. Reducing unnecessary travel, especially by air, is one of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions. Using technology to hold meetings can drastically cut the time, money and energy spent conducting business.
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If you don’t run the show at your office, speak up and encourage your employer and co-workers to take action and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
How do I do this?
No matter what job you have, chances are there are ways to save energy and reduce waste. Look around and report what you find. You can use the World Resources Institute’s report Working 9 to 5 on climate change: An office guide for a comprehensive strategy to attacking carbon dioxide emissions in the workplace.
Why should I do this?
The people who make decisions at work aren’t always around to see inefficiencies. Remember: If you find a way to reduce waste or conserve energy you’ll probably be congratulated for saving money. If commercial and industrial buildings could improve their energy efficiency by just 10 percent the greenhouse gas reduction achieved would be comparable to taking 30 million cars off the road(1).
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