1. Green Offices
Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse
November 9, 2011
Connie Scott

2. Table of Contents
Executive Summary..................................................................................................... i
Computers ................................................................................................................ 1
Energy star equipment ................................................................................. 1
Computer/Monitor combinations.................................................................... 1
How to choose wisely ................................................................................ 2
Power down at night .................................................................................... 2
Recycle .................................................................................................................... 3
Ink Cartridges ............................................................................................. 3
Paper Products ............................................................................................ 3
Reduce .................................................................................................................... 3
Waste ........................................................................................................ 3
Paper ......................................................................................................... 4
Printing ................................................................................................... 4
Proofread ................................................................................................ 4
Office intranets ........................................................................................ 4
Online transactions ................................................................................... 4
Websites ................................................................................................. 4
Why brown bag it ........................................................................................ 4
Transportation ............................................................................................ 5
The office of the future ................................................................................ 5
Reuse ...................................................................................................................... 5
ReUseIt Network ......................................................................................... 5
Ideas for reusing ......................................................................................... 6
Summary ................................................................................................................. 6

3. Executive Summary
Currently, our nation’s landfills arefilling up at an incredible rate. Offices today play
a huge part in the waste that is produced. As a nation, we must develop an
awareness of how our habits and choices impact the carbon footprints, which we
leave for future generations. One of the effects, greenhouse gases,hasresulted in
an increase of catastrophic storms that have been evolving over the last decade.
Printers, monitors, and computers haveturned out to be a huge problem for
landfills. If these products are not recycled correctly then, these products will
produce toxic gases and destroy our atmosphere. Desks and chairs are also major
contributors when it comes to the vast amount of this landfill contributed by offices.
Emissions from our vehicles, as we drive to work, are destroying the ozone. It is
essential to look for alternative sources of transportation such as trains, buses,
carpooling, biking or walking as a means to reserve our fuel supply.
A considerableamount of the paper supplyiscurrently not being recycled and we are
not consciously aware of our printing habits. Start asking yourself these questions?
Do we really need to print? How many copies do we really need? Do we need to
send out brochures or can we refer our customers to our website?
By converting to green offices,we can make a difference by choosing toreduce,
recycle, and reuse!
November 14, 2011 Page i

5. Green Offices
Green Offices are a very important factor in today’s society. We should each onebe
responsible for the carbon footprints we leave. With technology increasing at a
rapid speed, offices are generating more waste than ever. It is our dutyto create
awareness in recycling, reducing, and reusing our resources. Going green in the
office is a great way to reduce some of these carbon footprints.
Computers
When you’re not using your computer, turn it off. It saves energy, protects your
computer against lightning strikes, and the viruses that computer hackers try to
install. Out-of-date monitors should be replaced with energy starcompliance
monitors. The cathode ray tubes in ancient monitorswill use 66 percent more power
than newer flat screen monitors(The Green Office Guide).
Energy star equipment
To meet the criteria required byEnergy Star, monitorsmust beequipped with two
settings. A low-sleep setting and one deep-sleep settingmust be installed. Low
sleep settings willpermit the monitor to rest, while operating at two watts when it
has notoperated for aspecific interval of time. Deep sleep willdrop the monitor’s
settings to a one watt setting, after beingidle for a selected period of time (Energy
Star).
It is necessary for computers to power down into sleep mode,and consume less
than 4 watts of power to be regarded as energy star efficient product. In sleep
mode, computers save up to 90 percent more power (Energy Star).
Computer/Monitor combinations
A laptop will save the greatest amount of energy. Toobtain the mostefficiency,
integratethe computer with the monitor. Compared to desktop computers, which
are capable of consuming up to 160 watts of power, laptops merely use 15 watts of
energy.
November 14, 2011 Page 1

6. How to choose wisely
Whenchoosing a computer, laptop, or monitor an office should take into
consideration the following:
1. Increased energy isexhausted, when aprocessor with a high speedis installed.
A higher processor speed willadd to the amount of energy used.
2. Installinga larger memory into a computer triggers the basic limits of your
energy supply to run at full capacity.
3. If you install add-ons, your computeryou will consume more energy.
4. Next time you think about buying a new computer,consider purchasingan
upgradable computer. Acquiring a new computerfrequently creates excessive
landfill, and produces toxic gases from improper disposal.
When an office researches theproductsthey wish to buy, and chooses these
products wisely, theoffice will:
1. Roughlysave the United States$100 million ayear in electricity.
2. Put a stop to the 1.4 billion pounds of greenhouse gasesthat are
beingdischarged yearly (Asimilar amount of gas wasreleased when
consumers used approximately125,000vehicles).
3. Prevent an excess of 900 million kWh ofelectrical energy from being used
annually.
Power down at night
Make sure when everyone leaves the office;shut everything downfor the night. Turn
off the computers and the lights. Also, turn off the power strip on your computer. It
is still using energy even though the computer may be turned off. This is a great
way to conserve energy when the building is not in use. When you have natural
light, use it. If it isn’t necessary to turn on the lights, thendon’t waste useless
energy.

7. Recycle
Ink Cartridges
Ink cartridges should be recycled. If you need to recycle your cartridges, Staples is
undertaking a project to reduce the amount of ink cartridges being sent to landfills.
They will accept empty ink cartridges and recycle them. Also, converting to soy
cartridges is a wonderful idea. Soy ink requires less energy to manufacture, and
generates a brilliant coloronce you print. The price of soy ink is the same asoil-
based ink.
Paper Products
Use recycled paper products such as printer paper, envelopes, memo pads and
business cards.Recycled paper comes in many of the same forms as virgin paper.
Recycled paper only has a 10% market share, so the cost may be slightly higher.
(Scott Cornell).
Seventh Generation and Marcel Small Steps currently make tissue paper for
restrooms out of recycled paper. They also produce tissues and paper towels from
recycled products. When surveyed consumers have commented, that these
products are just as soft as non-recycled products.
Reduce
Waste
Today’s offices waste paper in vast amounts. The city of Portland put the following
statement in its report.
“Nurses at Legacy determined that much of the photocopying they did was
unnecessary. Previously,seven copies were made of each admitting record”.
“They found that less than half that many weretypically needed.”” Now they
only print one record, which is then copied only when needed.” “This
savesmore than $125,000 per year.”
November 14, 2011 Page 3

8. Paper
Printing
Do you really need to print all of those copies? Think before you print. Is there a
better way to distribute your information? Instead of making multiple copies and
wasting paper can you use inter-office email?Do you really need to print this story,
or can you read it online?
Proofread
Have co-workers proofread your composition before you print. Two sets of eyes are
better than one. Make sure that your printer is set to the right settings. Before
printing all of your copies, print just one. If the first one doesn’t work out, then
adjust your settings and try again. It is better to ruin just one and catch a mistake;
then print 76 copiesand catch a mistake later. Scan documents as an alternative to
copying them. Some employers may equip their employees with mobile scanners to
cut down on waste.
Office intranets
Construct an officeintranet. This will allow only your office to view these online
confidential pages. You can store company policies and procedure, human relations
documents, employee benefits, and phone directories on this site.
Online transactions
Green officesmayadvise their employees to enroll in direct deposit. This option will
permit the company to savethe use of paper, and also encourage employees to
participate in online banking. Other online business transactions such as E-Filing
may be prepared in this manner to save resources.
Websites
Don’t mail your customers brochures, letters, and advertisements. Set up a website
that is customer friendly, and encourage them to use it.
Why brown bag it
Don’t brown bag it. Bring a reusable lunch container. Use plastic containers to carry
the food in, and not sandwich bags. Bring your own mug to work. Don’t use the

9. paper cups provided at work.Carry your own utensils. Don’t use the plasticones to
eat with. And lastly, don’t bring bottled water. Use tap water. Each one of these
ideas will reduce the waste sent to landfills each year.
Transportation
Gas is becoming a precious commodity. Do you live close enough to your co-
workers that you may car-pool? Can you take the bus or train? Does your company
offer a car-pooling van? Are you capable of biking or walking to work? The
emissions from driving to work are causing the earth’s temperature to rise four
degrees every two decades. Scientists believe these emissionsare the cause
ofglobal warming. Conserving energy isessential. We all need to do our part.
The office of the future
The office of the future may help us to reduce energy consumptionas well. With
more people working at home and not commuting, we will save millions of dollars in
gasoline consumption. Now,we don’t have to fly to conferences. We may make use
of teleconferences, webinars, or telepresence to conserve energy.
Reuse
ReUseIt Network
Have you heard of the ReUseIt Network? Today many items are sent to landfills,
while they are still in good condition. This is an admirable site, developed by people
who are mindful about the filling up of our landfills. “The ReUseIt Network helps get
things from people who have them but don't want them, to people who want them
but don't have them” (What is ReUseIt?).
It is a great way to recycle and reuse unwanted items while making a great effort
to save our natural resources. The site commented that, items don’t even have to
be in working condition; because, some people like to tinker. All you have to do is
contact the website and join. You may list and item or receive an item. What a
great way to find office furniture!
November 14, 2011 Page 5

10. Ideas for reusing
1. If your office has used pieces of paper, cut them up! They make
greatnotepads!
2. Reuse the coffee at work and don’t let it go to waste. Pour it over ice and
have a nice iced mocha.
3. Salvage those packing peanutsand the bubble wrap that you in find boxes.
4. Utilize the old CD’s you receive in the mail as light reflectors. Put them up to
a lamp and use them to reflect light while you are working. It prevents you
from having to use a higher watt bulb.
5. Use these old CD’s as mirrors, if you have to connect something behind your
computer and can’t see using a CD is a great way to look behind your desk.
It won’t hurt if you scratch a junk CD.
6. Save your cell phones, PDAs, and pagers. Numerous sites now take these
devices anddispatchthem to military personal in need.
You canuncover a way to reuse anything. Our landfills are filling up at a rapid pace
and offices play a major part of this problem. Think of ways to recycle items,before
throwing anything away.
Summary
The offices of today need to make smart, effective choices. They should go green.
They realize what an impact their choices make on our environment.These offices
try to reduce the carbon footprints they leave on society. By reducing the energy
they use, conserving the products they use, and reusing the products they do have
they: save energy, reduce the size of landfills, save the atmosphere from toxic
emissions, and provide a more eco-friendly environment for future generations.
Please consider going green today!

11. Work Cited
Cornell, Scott. Green Alternative Office Products. N.p.: n.p., 2011. http://www.ehow.com/info_8091553_green-alternative-
office-products.html. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.
ENERGY STAR® Qualified Office Equipment. N.p.: Natural Resources of Canada, 2009.
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=sbinfocanada&cdn=money&tm=2058&gps=169_5_13.
Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
Nichols, Curt. A Guide to Greening. City Of Portland: n.p., 2001.
http://www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/CONS/BUS/docs/Green_Office_Guide.pdf?ga=t. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.
What is ReUseIt? N.p.: ReUseIt Network, 2011. http://www.reuseitnetwork.org/. Web. 14 Nov. 2011.
Ward, Susan. The Green Office Guide. N.p.: The New York Times Company, 2011.
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/environmentbiz/a/greenoffice.htm. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
November 14, 2011 Page 7