If you’re the last one to leave the office or an empty room, make sure you switch the light off! The average office wastes thousands of dollars each year by leaving equipment on when it’s not in use and leaving the light on all night. Turn off computers and monitors at the end of each day.

Make energy saving practices company policy and lead by example.

Only turn the heating on when you really need to. Turning up the thermostats by one degree pushed up your heating costs by 8%.

Start a carpool scheme. Find out who lives near to you and share lifts to work, saving you money and getting another car off the road and thus helping the planet.

Cut down on long-distance travel in favour of video conferencing or Skype.

Opt for the green electricity tariff from your power provider. If they don’t have one look for a company that does.

Don’t put hot equipment such as photocopiers and laser printers close to cooling vents, the cooling system will need to work harder.

Improve facilities for cyclists, for example provide secure bike parking and showers, this will encourage people to use a sustainable way to travel to work.

Hidden Power Usage-
Power bills are still high even though most businesses turn their appliances off at night. But it is the nightly ‘standby’ setting is what is costing your business (and the environment). The low-power mode is great during office hours but can increase the power bill and wastes energy that could be saved.

To make sure work appliances like computers, monitors, printers, microwaves and photocopy machines are completely off, try and pull out the plug rather than simply flipping the switch. You should also ensure climate control systems are turned off when not in use and that they are set to energy-efficient mode. You may be surprised how much energy is saved in the long run.

Toxic Indoor Air-
It’s not unusual for interior air to be more contaminated with toxic chemicals than the air outside. Furniture (especially particle board) and paints in office buildings can cause health problems as well add to the ozone layer. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in workplaces have been linked to problems like birth defects, cancer and endocrine disruption.

If your office is well insulated (which in most cases it should be) toxins won’t easily be able to escape. You can purchase green-certified products that will not let off these toxins and be harmful to yourself or the environment.

To ensure the wood for office equipment is environmentally friendly you can check with the Forestry Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance, which both make sure the wood is reclaimed or comes from sustainable harvested forests. When looking for products ensure they do not contain formaldehyde or other VOCs.

2. Digitise- Although in the digital age many workplaces still have apper materials used on a daily basis. Notes, files in filing cabinets and documents are still in paper form and are usually thrown out over time. Try and keep everything as digital as possible. Don’t print or write unnecessary documents. The more you can do online or on computer technology, the better.

3. Don’t Be a Paper Pusher- when buying printer paper for the office look for recycled paper that has a high percentage of post-consumer content and minimum chlorine bleaching. Recycled paper takes up a lot of energy in itself, so it is best to look for this option. Also print on both sides for note paper or choose a printer that has a double sided option.

4. Greening the Commute- driving to work is time consuming and the build up of cars on the roads adds to the already existing carbon dioxide in the environment. Ease some of this strain by car-pooling, taking public transport, riding your bike, walking or combining the above. Hybrid vehicles or scooters use less fuel than the average car, so if you need to drive try and use these vehicles.

5. Green Sleeves- try purchasing cheap or second hand clothes. If you buy them new, try and get clothing made from organic or recycled fibres. Avoid spending money on clothes that need to be dry cleaned or find a green dry cleaner.

6. Work From Home- use instant messaging, video conferencing and the like to communicate from home. This will save you driving to work in terms of time, money and the environment.

7. Use Green Materials- use eco-friendly materials. Aside from paper you can purchase a variety of recycled products like pens, pencils, cloth towels and biodegradable cleaners.

8. Lunch Time- bringing your lunch to work in a reusable container is the greenest and healthiest way to eat lunch at work. When you purchase food, the packaging goes into waste adding more to our large landfill. If you do have to order out, try ordering in a big group or place it in a re-useable container.

Although paper can be recycled, it takes time to happen. But Japanese company Nakabayashi has thought about the environment and has created a machine that will recycle your paper waste- right from the office building.

The newest office machine created turns used photocopy paper into toilet rolls and does so in less than a day. The environmentally smart recycle machine uses the old office waste to create a product you can use.

The brilliant machine can produce two rolls of toilet paper an hour from about 1,800 sheets of used A4 size paper or 7.2 kg, which would have more than likely been thrown away. This recycling machine weighs only 600kg and seems like a good start to reusing office waste.

Distribution for the Nakabayashi machine starts in August this year but it comes with a hefty price tag of $95,000. For now, we will all have to stick to our paper shredding and recycle bin method.

CD’s have become an outdated technology, but that doesn’t mean they have to sit in our offices collecting dust. Here are some ways to turn old technology into new gear for the workplace.

1. iPhone Stand

There is really no limit to the things you can make with old office supplies. Creating something new means it is no longer a waste product and some have even turned their old discs into an iPhone stand. The only tool you will need is a Dremel and glue- and the CDs of course.

2. A Solar Cooker

Sandwich presses and microwaves are a big hit at lunchtime in businesses throughout the globe. But the energy used from these machines is huge. If you have an old satellite dish, many CD’s and want to save the environment- then you can make a solar cooker from these. The CDs reflect light from the sun and heat to one central spot, making it the place to put your grill.

3. USB Lamp-

Grab a spare USB cord and get your soldering skills up to date and you can turn the wasted CDs into a USB lamp to light up your desk.

4. USB Fan-

If the lamp project was entertaining and worked out well, why not try to make a fan too. The old CDs make the base and fan blades- getting the most from the waste pile.

Waste arising from production can have a big impact on your businesses profit and adds to environmental pollution. The difficulty is to try and reduce the waste in production without undermining the effectiveness of the process.
To find out where the waste is coming from you need to find the cause and understand the processes. A flow chart is a good way to pin point the problem.

Some things you may wish to do to improve waste reduction are:
· reusing rinse-water in cooling systems
· check that equipment is correctly calibrated
· reduce unnecessary stoppages in production
· upgrade or replace old equipment
· minimise spills or leaks
· use sealed systems to collect the waste in one area. This will mean that as much waste as possible can be reused or recycled.

Printers-
· Switch it off: most printers nowadays have quicker start up times so it means you can turn it off without waiting around for it to warm up.
· Enable standby modes if it needs constant use
· Print in batches: printers use a lot of energy when printing but also when they are in idol mode between printing and standby. Printing in batches will reduce the idling time and power used.
· Default to duplex: this means printing on both sides. Is a good option to have on default setting.
· Fit more on a page: try and squeeze as much as you can on one page and expand printing margins.
· Use inkjet: inkjet models use less energy than laser ones.
· Look for the Energy Star logo to ensure it’s environmentally friendly

Fax Machines-
· Use fewer machines: if there are multiple machines in the office, divert the messages to one to reduce running costs and energy use.
· Check standby consumption: although it is not printing, standby modes use a lot of energy so when purchasing a new fax machine ensure it uses the least amount possible.
· Default to draft: set the default setting to draft so that you use less ink if it prints.
· Stick to inkjet fax machines: for the same reason as printers they use less energy than laser ones.

CAVE is the work place that allows you keep in touch with others across the other side of the world, without moving from your seat. This Virtual environment promises to bring us a global boardroom.

The Cave Automated Virtual Environment was made in the 1990’s and works by back-projecting stereoscopic images into the walls and floor of a room. The program is designed so that you have to wear special glasses to be able to see the 3D images and you must also carry a wand to track your movements.

Doing this will enable visitors to also immerse themselves in the virtual environment and, in theory, interact with other CAVE participants across the world, as though they were physically in the same workplace.

This same immersive technology is being adapted to car manufacturing, architecture, astronomy, and even archaeology. The technology remains expensive at the moment ( CAVE at University College in London about $1, 962, 000) but there are advances in processing and graphics that means the use of this technology could be in workplaces closer than originally thought.

We need to ensure that we save energy when possible and here are some effective ways to reduce the energy used from your photocopier.

· Copy in batches- When it is possible photocopy material in large batches so that it uses less power. Only ever photocopy exactly what you need. Any more will result in paper and electricity wastage.

· Default to duplex- if the machine has duplex printing set it to this default.

· What do you need to do?- buy a machine that does exactly what you need. Photocopiers can be expensive, and if you don’t need the one with every function available, don’t get it. Low-spec machines may give you everything you need for a lower price and it will use less power and energy.

· Check the type of ink used- look for models that have low melting-point inks. The photocopiers work by heating up components that fuse toner to paper. The lower ink temperature means less energy used.

· Check copy-to-standby times- try and purchase a photocopier that goes quickly from copy to mode to standby. A fast switching mode will save time in energy wasting idol mode.

Eliminate waste- not producing waste materials in the first place will ultimately be the best waste management.

Reduce- It’s not always possible to eliminate waste all together, but there is still a lot of unnecessary waste that could be eliminated. For example, paper used for print outs is staggering and contributes to the waste pile. Try and adopt a policy where you only print out documents when it is absolutely required. Try to reduce materials like plastic vending cups, printer toners and drums for materials.

Reuse- try to reduce waste by finding a new use for it. Packaging material should be used a few times over- as with old binders, rechargeable batteries and refillable printer cartridges. Printing on both sides of the paper will also save a huge amount of waste.

Recycle- identify the different types of recyclable material. Most businesses can label the main recyclable items such as paper, plastic bottles, vending cups, and packaging. But there are other items like IT equipment, textiles, and construction waste that can also be included. Check with the recycle centre what is actually acceptable and go from there. Separate the materials into different recycle bins so that everyone is clear.

Disposal- It is the businesses responsibility to dispose of waste that cannot be recycled in an authorized and responsible manner. Less amount of waste, the better it is for the environment and the business.