Well, now that we are officially heading towards times when cost-cutting and reduction of overheads will be the key to survival, I thought it was a good opportunity to initiate some steps in our small office as well. I checked up with a friend who owns a mid-sized firm and they are well on their way to making such changes a way of life at his workplace. The good thing is that each of these measures also has the potential to reduce greenhouse emissions. Heres a partial list of what they have started doing:

• Switching off computers when not in use. Atleast switching off monitors. Its a waste of energy if the system is on and not in use. And switching off computers when not in use, can pare energy usage by two-thirds.
  According to an estimate by the research firm Gartner, PCs account for some 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions coming from IT & Telcom.

• Reducing drastically on personal meetings with clients and vendors they have worked with in the past. And relying on phone and email for business communication instead.
• Installing power saving flat screen monitors in place of the old TFT monitors. And boy, do they look good!
• Switching off extra lights.
• Allowing natural light to come in through windows. Earlier, the blinds were always drawn.
• Turning off the coffee dispenser when not in use.
• Printing only when imperative.
• Making slip-pads out of one-side used paper.

What’s your office doing? Any other ideas?

Tags: Global Warming, green living, Save Earth, Stop Wasting