Just a quick note to say what an excellent event the ADE Awards Dinner was - not just because it was a successful night for Edina but also how professionally the whole event was organised.
Adam Bloom, Sales Manager - CHP, Edina UK
It's Green Office Week!!
Support Green Office Week by helping your office to be more eco-friendly and follow our ‘10 top tips for an environmentally friendly workplace’. Find out more about Green office week here.
10 top tips for an environmentally friendly workplace
1. Turn the lights off!
Artificial lighting uses around 44% of all electricity in office buildings. Proper use of lighting will save your business money and also help the environment. Try to go without artificial light if the natural light is good enough and always make it a habit to turn lights off when leaving a room empty. Use energy saving light bulbs where possible.
2. Reduce your water use.
The average person uses around 150 litres of water a day. Only boil the water you need instead of filling the kettle, let whoever is responsible for the building aware of any leaky taps and why not suggest using water displacement devices in the toilets?
3. Green Stationery
Buy green stationery where possible. We use ‘The Green Stationery’ company, a small business who select products that are environmentally benign or have environmental advantages over the standard stationery equivalents. They use only reclaimed packaging materials, renewably sourced electricity and offset their carbon emissions produced by their couriers. http://www.greenstat.co.uk/storefront/evolution_ContentPage.html?Content=1
The quality of recycled paper has improved a lot and WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) states on average when comparing one tonne of 100% recycled paper versus ordinary paper, you can save 1.32 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Try to print double-sided to halve the amount of paper you use and recycle print outs that are no longer needed by printing on the other side.
4. Turn off your computer!
IT equipment on stand-by uses a lot of energy. Always turn off your computer at the end of the day or if you are away from your desk for a period of time; this will not only save money but will also prolong the lifespan of your equipment.
5. Walk or cycle to work
Cycling or walking to work is a great opportunity to exercise, and helps you feel good! If this isn’t possible, take the train or bus whenever possible. A train produces 54g of CO2 emissions per passenger and a local bus around 20g (if full) compared to 170g for an average car (according to Defra).
6. Turn the heating down
Turn down the heating or air conditioning and close doors and windows when the heating is on.
7. Buy a plant
Plants are good at absorbing the chemicals released by office equipment. They also look nice and help you feel happy!
8. Use video conferencing.
Instead of commuting to meetings try to use video conferencing. This could save your business a lot of money in travel and time costs.
9. Donate old office furniture & equipment
Contact organisations that can take and re-use your unwanted equipment and furniture. There are many charitable organisations that do this. Try http://www.bhf.org.uk/shop/donating-goods.aspx and http://www.frn.org.uk/.
Buy recycled office furniture instead of buying new, we’ve used Greenworks: http://www.green-works.co.uk/.
10. Always remember the 3 R’s: Reduce, Re-use & Recycle
Reduce your waste, use things again and recycle objects you no longer need.
Labelling your recycling containers will make it easy for staff to use. For food waste, why not follow SE2’s lead and use a ‘wormery’, an efficient and environmentally friendly way of converting your food waste into solid compost and liquid feed.
Good luck! Why not tweet or email us and let us know how you’re getting on?