The Green Office Board

Does greening your office actually save money?

Wed, 11 May 2011 16:07:03 +0000

Can greening your office actually save money? The answer – it depends. Some measures are surefire money savers, some are break-even, and others are going to cost you.

Strategies that yield savings include recycling (can reduce up to 25% of waste carting costs), supply donation program (tax deduction), double-sided printing (halves paper use), and the purchasing of reusable cups, plates, utensils, etc. Achieving savings through energy efficiency measures (i.e. purchasing Energy Star appliances/equipment and changing computer power settings) is possible if your company’s energy costs aren’t fixed in the lease agreement or can be negotiated.

Green changes that don’t have affect your wallet one way or the other include switching to a green web host, giving carpool incentives (such as the better parking spots), a telecommute program, and improving communication with your building’s manager (to report things like water leaks).

Lastly, there is no shortage of ways to spend money in going green. Recycled paper and other office products are never the cheapest option (but not necessarily the most expensive either). Purchasing carbon or renewable energy credits is a new cost entirely. And food-related green purchasing such as fair-trade coffee, organic milk, condiments, and catering for lunches and events is generally more expensive. But food measures, those that relate to indoor air quality can have a positive effect on the health of employees can yield cost savings in the long run via lower health insurance premiums.

Annoyingly Green

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:57:33 +0000

Whenever an employee announces the new initiative of “greening” the office, at least a few people are bound to roll their eyes. Let’s face it, we’ve all had so much ‘green this’ and ‘green that’ shoved down our throats, many people are sick and tired of green. That’s why we recommend presenting green office initiatives as business-as-usual, focusing on terms like “efficiency” and “cost-savings”. In other words, turn down the green. The signage for recycling bins should be clear, professional, and unassuming. Just say “cans”, “paper”, or whatever the bin is for laminated and in VERY LARGE letters. Avoid annoyingly green cliches (i.e. “it’s easy being green”) and guilty messages (“do your part!”).

An office greening initiative will go a lot further with employees if they feel like it’s being quietly institutionalized instead of forced on them. After all, these things should have been done a long time ago anyway.

What’s in a Commute?

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 21:25:21 +0000

One aspect of a green office isn’t in the office at all – it’s on the way there and heading home. A fun activity is taking stock of yours and your fellow employees’ commutes. How many people drive? Take public transit? Bike? Walk? What is the average number of miles travelled? Average time?

Besides being interesting, this information can help when scouting a new office location, as peoples’ happiness and productivity are influenced by how they start and finish the workday. Secondly, knowing employees’ travel patterns can help companies improve commutes (and therefore productivity) in the form of carpool incentives, flexible workdays, telecommuting, bike storage, and public transit incentives. These are all known as commuter benefits.

If you think your workplace already has the commuter benefits thing down pat, check out www.bestworkplaces.org/ to become a designated Best Workplace for Commuters.

Recycled Paper: Finally in Range

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 20:36:08 +0000

In order for a green product to truly become mainstream, it needs to be cost competetive, of equal or better quality, and widely available. It appears that that time has come for recycled copy paper. Whereas recycled copy paper used to be noticeably darker than conventional and had to be purchased from specialty retailers, WB Mason, Staples, OfficeMax and Office Depot all now offer 20 lb, 92 brightness copy paper made with 30%, 50% and 100% post consumer content. This was not true just a year ago. Similar conventional paper generally costs between $5 and $7 per ream (500 sheets) or $37 and $48 a case (5000 sheets). And while 100 percent recycled paper is still at the higher end of the price offerings, the 30% recycled paper is right in line with conventional paper, starting as low as $5.99/ream for Office Depot’s Green 30% Recycled EnviroCopy Paper and $44.98/case for Boise ASPEN 30 Recycled Copy Paper at WB Mason.

In short, there are now less excuses than ever to not purchase recycled content copy paper. It is indeed cost-competetive, of the most common weight and brightness, and available at the largest retailers of office products.

Office Recycling: Not a Given

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:05:10 +0000

Since recycling took center stage in the 1990s, we’ve come to assume that everywhere we go, those blue bins will follow. This is largely true of residential areas, with recycling mandated and picked up by municipalities. However, what many people don’t know (or don’t think about) is the fact that recycling in work places is oftentimes not required by law. Furthermore, because private businesses arrange for their own waste pick up by a private carting service, so too must they see to it that their recyclables go to the right place.

In New York City, for example, Local Law 87 of 1992 required businesses to recycle corrugated cardboard, office paper, magazines, catalogs, phone books, and newspapers. This could be accomplished through “source separation” meaning that the materials are separated where the waste is generated ( in the office) or could be sorted post-collection by waste providers. Now, I’m sure that I’m not the only one who’s noticed that many businesses either source separate their materials only to see them to get dumped into the same bin at the end of the day. In some offices, materials aren’t separated at all, but the waste provider assures the business that the recyclables are sorted post-collection. One of the subjects of this blog will be exploring the success of post-collection sorting . Check back for updates!