More companies work toward being environmentally friendly as it is reckoned to save them more money and not to mention less clutter around the office! The old classic Go Green slogan is no longer 3Rs but 5Rs: Reuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle – five actions that can make your workplace more eco-friendly.

Keep reading 13 simple ways you can do today to help reduce environmental impact, save money and live a happier and healthier life

Going green is a great effort and the least you can do for a better future and better living. There is no excuse for you not being able to support the eco-friendly campaign. As an employee, you can give a small contribution but greater impact on the whole organization by practising more green in the office. Show a great example to your colleagues and even your boss! The best tip is to talk with the human resource on how to implement eco-friendly policy in the workplace to cut on energy wastage.

1. Use reusable pens instead
Do you know how many disposable pens being thrown out daily? According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. alone throws away 1.6 billion disposable pens every year. That’s a lot of metal and plastic waste ending up in a landfill. So, consider stocking reusable pens instead. Apart from buying disposable pens, you can just buy the refills – and this move is actually cheaper in the long run and much nicer to use. Give each one of the staff a few pens and once they are running out of ink, they can simply go to the supply room and get the refill.

2. Buy in Bulk
Who doesn’t love office pantry that is full of snacks and coffee? Notice that your sugar or creamer comes in an individual pack? Try to calculate the waste as in the package that you dispose of. Instead of buying individual packets, you may buy those items in bulk. Use glass jars or dispensers to keep the sugar, creamer, pepper, salt and other consumables to make it easy to use and most importantly, eco-green!

3. Invest in Environmentally Friendly Paper
One of the ways to support the Go Green initiative is by buying the eco-friendly paper. All companies still need paper for running out businesses – instead of buying regular paper, you may opt for chlorine-free paper and look for high amounts of post-consumer recycled content. Other suggestions for more sustainable paper are paper that has been made of bamboo, hemp or organic cotton.

4. Eliminate Waste in Printing
Most of office waste is on printing – paper to be precise. Try to reduce the waste in printing by using the space on the paper to the max. Often when you print a document, you discover that the last page only has a web address at the bottom and other printable space is wasted. So, before you click on “Print” button, make sure you identify the possible wasted space and think on how to eliminate it. If the last page doesn’t contain any valuable information, then you can skip on the page.

5.Photocopier Settings
Once you have using the photocopier, make sure the default set back to single copies to ensure the next person using it won’t be wasting paper. You may also want to set the photocopier to print double-sided again. Plus, check on the default and set it to black and white printing rather than colour printing to minimise the wastage.

6. Telecommute
Many not notice the positive impact of telecommuting. Employees can be more productive when working from home even if only for a few days per month. This is because the time consumes for commuting is reduced, expense and energy are saved and the best part is the changing of the environment to work. Employees can polish their creativity when in an opened-space and away from the office.

7. Go Digital
As we move towards the digital age, ask yourself, is it necessary to print out a meeting agenda for every colleague? Or print a slideshow material? Isn’t it better to send materials online rather than distributing? Make use of email by sending out employee manuals, meeting agenda or other materials to eliminate the wastage of paper. Instead of increasing the paper stock, you can increase numbers of digital storage devices and systems for businesses make going digital easy to do. Try to go digital as you could.

8. Power Down
Majority of office power is consumed by machines that switch on but are not operated. Once you enter the office, the lights are on, air-conditioners are on, even in a meeting room that no one is using and all other machines that are seldom being used. Standby power, on the other hand, is a huge environmental culprit and expense. Cut the wastage of electrical supply and at the same time save our environment by turning off all machines that are not being used and never leave your monitors on standby mode.

9. Eliminate Screen Savers
It may sound a small thing, but do you know screen savers consume high electrical supply? Set a company policy that disallows the use of screen savers. Even if your company doesn’t have that kind of policy, you can start one by banning the screen saver on your monitor and set the monitor to power off instead, after a several time. It is really easy to do and educate your colleagues as well.

10. Go Green– Literally
Plant more green plants in your office! Make your office literally green. Plants absorb airborne pollutants – that come from office furniture and emit healthy ions and fresher oxygen into the air. The green colour is deemed to make one more relax and stress-free. Having green plants can reduce the mundane look and making it more comfortable for everybody.

11. Use Natural Light
Is your office constantly using artificial light from day to night and so often it is unnecessary? You can support Go Green campaign by turning to natural light instead. Open the blinds and let daylight in wherever possible. You do not only save on power consumption but also get fresh air. Of course, don’t leave the lights on at night when everybody is gone.

12. Buy LED Lamps
There are many light bulbs on the market that use minimal energy and one of it is an LED lamp. Fluorescent lamps consume more energy and not eco-friendly. In order to reduce the power consumption, consider changing to LED lamps instead. LED lamps use even less power than compact fluorescent bulbs do. You also can try to reduce the number of desk lamps you have in the office.

13. Install Motion Sensors
Try to take a walk around your office and observe how many office rooms and meeting rooms have lights on despite nobody using the space. Install motion-activated light switches to minimise the wastage, as maybe some employees might forget to switch off after using the space. A motion-activated light will turn on and off automatically within a designated period of time.

Let’s work for a better future!

Banning the usage of plastic is not the only thing you can do. There are a lot of other ways to support green in the workplace such as minimise the use of power consumption, paper wastage, stop using paper cups and use mug instead and many more. Slowly adapting eco-friendly practice at your workplace and educate your colleagues on doing the same thing.