Waste at the Workplace

We have all been reprimanded by our parents at one time or another for leaving the bathroom light on, or for not closing the front door and letting the AC cool the whole neighborhood. It wasn't such big deal since the money wasn't coming out of your own pocket, right?

This is exactly what is happening in the everyday workplace. Employees figure..."Hey it's not on my dime, why should I worry about powering off my computer or shutting the lights off when I leave?" Think about it...if we are going to make a consciences effort at home to cut energy use, save money and help the environment, we HAVE TO DO IT AT WORK!

I live right down town of a wonderful city, Chicago, IL. I am always amazed by the amounts of office lights that are on late in the evening sometimes well into the morning. I used to think, "wow, could all these people still be working?"

It turns out, that is not always the case. Some are left on to prevent birds from flying into the buildings, so I hear. But many were probably just left on.

SunMicrosystems reports that U.S. businesses could save $4.3 billion in annual energy costs and eliminate more carbon dioxide than six million cars produce every year if workers adopted home energy conservation habits at the office.

Studies by the U.S Dept of Labor showed that apx 81 million Americans use a computer at work, only 34% say that they shut their computer off when they leave work.

Only 35% of the people surveyed said that they "practice the same conservation (shutting things off) practices at work as they do at home. The most common reason was that they were not paying the electric bill.

If you feel like your office is not making an attempt to conserve or be efficient, bring it up at the next meeting or send out a blast email. Most business owners will be thrilled to hear that their employees are wanting to help them lower their electric bills:)

Here are a few ways to cut back on waste at the workplace.

• Always turn off your computer.
• Unplug appliances when they are not in use (probably not the refrigerator:) microwaves, coffemakers, shredders, etc.
• Bring a large drinking container for water, those little paper cone cups are a tremendous waste
• Find out what the company recycling program is, and try to improve it
• Reuse boxes: When you get shipments in, save your boxes so that you can use them again for shipments out.
• Decorate the office with plants - it won't cut back on waste but it will help the indoor air and liven the place up a bit.
• Create a carpool program: Many of your employees may want to carpool, but don't know where coworkers live or simply don't have the courage to ask around. Get the ball rolling for them.
• Try to buy energy efficient appliances and electronic equipment
• Only travel if you have to, video conferencing is a great alternative

The only chance we have at really making a difference is taking advantage of our strength in numbers. Some offices have hundreds, if not thousands of people. Get the word out, and let us know how it goes...