I've been wanting to write an article about being an environmentally conscious person in our field for a while, so this is perfect timing. I admit it, I'm a treehugger. I am a shareholder at a CSA and I recycle everything that I possibly can. I buy environmentally conscious office products and cleaning products. Honestly, it's a lot of work, but I keep telling myself, "One person can make a difference."
Here are my tips for making your office and set a greener environment. These are easy things that will not cause you any stress.
- Coffee - I had to start with the most important item in any motion graphic artists day. I am addicted and I'm a coffee snob. I only buy fair-trade organic coffee. My choice is the Guatemalan roast.
And... get those brown, unbleached recycled coffee filters... or better yet, a metal filter that you can use over and over.
Don't forget the mugs... I know you wouldn't use foam! I read an article a while back about the energy it takes to make a ceramic mug vs. a foam cup. The energy it takes to make one ceramic mug is the same as it takes to make 175 foam cups . I thought that was a strange environmental take, but foam does take up a lot more room in the dump. I mean, you don't throw away a mug each time you use it. Plus a foam cup can't say cute things like "No coffee, no workee". Coffee tastes better in a ceramic mug anyway. See Grinning Planet for more. - Turn off equipment! - Do you shut down your computer at night? Do you at least turn your monitor, printer, scanner, video equipment and whatever else off when it's not in use? The place I used to work would leave stuff on all night and sometimes on the weekend. It would drive me nuts. If I was the last person out, I'd shut everything down, but other's didn't always do so.
- Transportation - Carpool or take public transportation, or, even better, work from home. I've been working from my home office for a little over a year and I don't even drive 6,000 miles a year! My car is 9 years-old but gets good gas mileage, so there's really no reason for me to upgrade to a hybrid. Plus, working from home is just really nice. I save money by not eating out all the time and don't have to bother packing a lunch. I can just toss a salad together and eat something really healthy and I don't have to drive to go get it.
- Plants - Put some greenery in your office. It will improve the air quality and reduce your stress. I am really not too great at keeping plants alive, but I have some tropical plants that I've managed to keep at least in a coma through the winter. I hear those snake plants are impossible to kill. Avoid African violets if you're like me. They will only make you cry.
- Recycle! - Recycle your ink cartridges, office paper, cardboard, plastic, wine bottles, whatever. While you're at it... buy recycled stuff. They sell recycled paper, toilet paper, paper towels and even refilled printer cartridges. You can even reuse office paper that printed badly as scrap paper. You can recycle printer cartridges for charity too. Post offices have postage paid (free) envelopes to mail in your old cartridges.
- Buy used - I know this is not always possible, but some equipment you may be able to get at a lesser cost and it's not ending up in the dump. Also, if you can fix it, fix it. If it's broken and can't be fixed, can you gut it and sell the parts? I did that with an old Mac. I sold the ram, the case, the hard drive, etc. The power supply and motherboard were fried, but the rest was useable. Don't make some poor Chinese woman expose herself to toxic chemicals to tear apart your old box!
- Lighting and appliances - Get those low wattage bulbs. I have them all over my house. My energy bills ARE lower. I know many of you have a dishwasher at your office for those ceramic mugs. Is it an energy-star rated appliance?
If you Google "Green Office" or "Environmentally Concious Office", you basically will get the same tips everywhere. Why am I bothering? Well, it can't hurt to remind you to do the right thing and get all preachy on you every once in a while. ;-) Take action. Make a difference. Go watch An Inconvenient Truth.
Labels: Environment
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