Tips for making your office green

Making your office more green is easier than it seems - all you have to do is make a few small changes to your daily routine.

According to Ruth Cullen's The Little Green Handbook (Peter Pauper Press), a good place to start is by creating "a green strategic plan [that] will incorporate ways in which employees can minimize their consumption of natural resources and reduce unnecessary waste."

Here are a few of Cullen's tips for easy ways to make your office green:

* Turn off the lights and electronics at the end of each day
* Start using Energy Star computers instead

* If possible, store files electronically... just be sure to use passwords for personal documents. Before converting your files, check to make sure they're not legally required to be on paper.

* Save paper by using "print preview" on your computer and printing on both sides of a page

* Use recycling bins: i.e. paper, plastic, ink cartridges

* Reuse paper and packing supplies as much as you can (i.e. create your own scrap paper)

* "Keep your office supply stock to a minimum to avoid waste" [page 99]

* Buy non-toxic and recycled products

* Telecommute

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