Over the years, I have enjoyed the opportunity to work for a few different types of printers. I have also been fortunate enough to view business environments outside of the world of print, and I have to say that we do a great job of trying to further our industry. Perhaps, one of the greatest opportunities for us, as printers, to reduce our environmental footprint would be in our offices rather than in our plants.
Now, I’m not naive enough to think that the plant isn’t a much larger consumer of energy and resources, but the plant is also something you keep constant tabs on. The plant is something that you and your customer focus on, and the efficiencies that you achieve there show up in your bottom line. In short, the plant is a place that cannot be overlooked. The office section, however, is an overhead cost that is often overlooked. Some simple energy and cost efficient decisions up front can save your company hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.
Let’s start with all the simple stuff that I’m sure you’re all aware of, but I’ll mention anyway. Turning off lights, computers and printers at night and on weekends adds up on your power bill over a year. Machines that are asleep still draw power on a continuous basis, and unlike your home that may have two computers, your office would presumably have a few more. Lights can be set on motion detectors to help keep power consumption to strictly what is needed. These can be particularly great in low traffic areas, such as storage rooms. Something a little more drastic, but along the same lines, would be removing all the fluorescent lights from the office section and replacing them with more energy efficient fixtures. Taking this one step further would be increasing the amount of natural light in the space by using skylights or opening spaces up with more exterior windows.
Reducing your paper consumption is another great way to decrease the amount of waste your office produces. Now, I know as printers that point goes against absolutely everything we stand for. But, if you think about it, most companies have their own in-house desktop printers or copy machines, and this sort of printing is no longer commercial or purchased from “printers.” So, while the sentiment is understandable, it’s time that we moved past it when it makes economic sense for us.
Now, if you don’t have the time or the resources to reinvent your workflow to reduce the amount of printing that needs to be done on the office copier, then simply printing items double-sided where applicable should reduce the amount of paper consumption. Can’t print double-sided? How about switching to a stock that is 100% recycled or at least has a hefty recycled content. The paper itself may actually cost a little more, but it is something you can point out to clients when they come for a visit, and even something they might pick up on and purchase from you in the future. This notion can be carried forward onto your business cards, envelopes and virtually any paper product you choose to use in the office. I think the best way to reduce this part of your footprint is to minimize the dependency on paper altogether.
The one last office location that you’ve probably overlooked is the kitchen. Most medium to large-size shops tend to have a lunchroom, but how environmentally-friendly is the room itself? A bit of an odd question, but think about it. The majority of the garbage from your office area is from the lunchroom. People purchase lunches or bring in plastic bags, and it all ends up in the dump. Certain things you can do to reduce the amount of garbage is to ensure that there are properly marked and easily identifiable recycling containers for all recyclable products, including styrofoam.
Next, would be to provide employees with dishes, cutlery and mugs as well as a dishwasher so that disposable items are not used. Providing a fridge to keep leftovers and microwaves to heat them up is another way to ensure less waste. Barring all that setting trash and garbage goals, or having a trash-free lunch day (much the way some schools do) is a great way to encourage people to get involved and aware of some of the environmental issues that we will all have to deal with.
While none of these ideas are groundbreaking or mind-blowing, I hope that they have made you aware of some of the simpler ways we can all help make our offices a little greener.
