Green your workplace
Once you've taken steps to make your home life greener you can turn your attention to your workplace. Even if you can't make changes across the whole workforce you can lead by example.
The problem
While many people invest in greening their homes, the workplace can feel like a space that's beyond your ability to make a difference.
As a result computers get left on overnight, emails needlessly printed-off then thrown away, and lights left on over the weekend.
If just 20 employees turned off their computers during a lunch hour, they would save over 3700 watts of electricity; enough to keep an energy efficient light bulb burning for over eight and a half days.
Energy inefficiency in the workplace doesn't just cost the environment - it costs the business a great deal of money.
What you can do
It may simply be that no-one has ever suggested greening your workplace; But if you demonstrate that there are cost savings to be made by being greener, you may persuade the company owners to look at the issue seriously. This website contains lots of information about the kind of savings you can make by being green - email them a link.
But even if your workplace is resistant to developing company-wide environmentally-friendly practices, there is a lot you can do by yourself.
How to do it
It's the little things that count. Over the course of the working year they all add up.
Simple things like using one glass for drinking water, instead of taking multiple plastic cups from the water dispenser, saves plastic and money.
Trying not to print out email and other documents (unless it is totally unavoidable) saves paper and ink - and, again, saves money.
Turning off lights, shutting down your computer and turning off the monitor properly...
In fact, most of the pledges on this site can be applied just as easily at work as at home. So why not pledge to green your working life?
Take pledge
