What are some good sources of ideas for corporate/officeplace sustainability initiative?
May 2, 2011 10:48 AM Subscribe
Where can I find good ideas that a high-tech corporate office can adopt as part of a sustainability initiative
So, our corporate overlords are having a sustainability initiative and we, recently-acquired-and-not-yet-particularly-integrated-tiny-subsidiary, have said "yes, right, we'll get on that immediately."
We have ideas, but this isn't something we've done as a group before. Some of our goals are to
1: make effective changes
2: not tick people off by making them.
Our internal sponsors are most interested if we can show that sustainability ideas also save the company money.
Any good sources of workable, easy ideas? Any cautionary tales? Blogs on the topic? We're at the spitball stage, so lots of things could be considered.
So, our corporate overlords are having a sustainability initiative and we, recently-acquired-and-not-yet-particularly-integrated-tiny-subsidiary, have said "yes, right, we'll get on that immediately."
We have ideas, but this isn't something we've done as a group before. Some of our goals are to
1: make effective changes
2: not tick people off by making them.
Our internal sponsors are most interested if we can show that sustainability ideas also save the company money.
Any good sources of workable, easy ideas? Any cautionary tales? Blogs on the topic? We're at the spitball stage, so lots of things could be considered.
The EPA.
Also, just random Google searches for "office sustainability green" (and variations on that) turns up interesting results.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:38 AM on May 2, 2011
Also, just random Google searches for "office sustainability green" (and variations on that) turns up interesting results.
posted by jeffamaphone at 11:38 AM on May 2, 2011
- Change automatic office printer/photocopier settings to double sided (saves money, less toner, less paper)
- Change preferred printer settings to pdf (so people will save files instead of printing them, also takes care of accidental print jobs) (saves money, less useless printing)
- Tags on email signature that says: Thank you for considering the environmental impact of printing e-mails.
- Sensor lights
- clearly marked recycling bins in coffee area and at desks (people can be lazy, and will recycle if they can do it easily)
- ceramic mugs/ glass cups
- if possible change policies so electronic copies are kept instead of paper copies (need to have a reliable server for this, and only if the company currently has a paper copy policy)
These are all of the easier ones, and most of these save the company money, and require little to no effort for people to implement.
posted by devonia at 12:04 PM on May 2, 2011
- Change preferred printer settings to pdf (so people will save files instead of printing them, also takes care of accidental print jobs) (saves money, less useless printing)
- Tags on email signature that says: Thank you for considering the environmental impact of printing e-mails.
- Sensor lights
- clearly marked recycling bins in coffee area and at desks (people can be lazy, and will recycle if they can do it easily)
- ceramic mugs/ glass cups
- if possible change policies so electronic copies are kept instead of paper copies (need to have a reliable server for this, and only if the company currently has a paper copy policy)
These are all of the easier ones, and most of these save the company money, and require little to no effort for people to implement.
posted by devonia at 12:04 PM on May 2, 2011
One thing you can do that saves a surprising amount of energy (and therefore money) is managing the screensaver/sleep settings for computer monitors. Having the monitor "sleep" instead of run a screensaver after x minutes saves a lot of energy. For the average office computer, the energy hog is really the LCD monitor. You can relatively easily document this impact be comparing before and after electricity bills.
I'm on the "green" team at work, but I work in a hospital and we have different opportunities and challenges than a straight office environment. In our office environments, we're doing many of the things already noted here.
posted by jeoc at 12:38 PM on May 2, 2011
I'm on the "green" team at work, but I work in a hospital and we have different opportunities and challenges than a straight office environment. In our office environments, we're doing many of the things already noted here.
posted by jeoc at 12:38 PM on May 2, 2011
You should check out The Natural Step (international, but U.S. affiliate is based out of Portland). Here are some of their many projects and their toolkit. They are very oriented towards business and have a portfolio of clients that include cities, large and small companies, and NGOs.
posted by SpicyMustard at 12:54 PM on May 2, 2011
posted by SpicyMustard at 12:54 PM on May 2, 2011
I'll second SpicyMustard's suggestion of The Natural Step.
The American Institute of Architects recently promoted to their member firms this list of operational actions. It's a pretty wide list, ranging from easy-to-implement (LCD monitors and EnergyStar rated equipment) to more involved (employee incentives for not communiting in a single-occupancy vehicle).
Most of what the firm I work for (an 80-100 person AEC firm) does is covered in that list.
In order to reduce office waste, our office
- removed all garbage cans from under desks: every desk gets a paper recycling box, there are garbage cans in the restrooms, breakroom, kitchen, and at reception
- has a recycling station in the breakroom and kitchen: individual bins for plastics, glass, metal
- joined municipal composting (prior to that people volunteered to take compost home, but 5gal of coffee grounds strained everyone's home piles)
- performs a trash audit every year (it's gross, but we have a good sense of whether the staff is recycling)
In order to reduce the number of vehicles commuting to our office,
- the office has a bicycle lock-up, changing room, showers
- the firm offers an incentive of a bus pass or equal cash to those who do not use a single-occupancy vehicle 80+% of work days
- the firm does not purchase parking for commuter vehicles
Further, the firm
- has a catering policy that dictates "family style" packaging rather than "box lunches"
- contracts with a cleaning company that touts a "green housekeeping" ideal
posted by Prince_of_Cups at 4:33 PM on May 2, 2011
The American Institute of Architects recently promoted to their member firms this list of operational actions. It's a pretty wide list, ranging from easy-to-implement (LCD monitors and EnergyStar rated equipment) to more involved (employee incentives for not communiting in a single-occupancy vehicle).
Most of what the firm I work for (an 80-100 person AEC firm) does is covered in that list.
In order to reduce office waste, our office
- removed all garbage cans from under desks: every desk gets a paper recycling box, there are garbage cans in the restrooms, breakroom, kitchen, and at reception
- has a recycling station in the breakroom and kitchen: individual bins for plastics, glass, metal
- joined municipal composting (prior to that people volunteered to take compost home, but 5gal of coffee grounds strained everyone's home piles)
- performs a trash audit every year (it's gross, but we have a good sense of whether the staff is recycling)
In order to reduce the number of vehicles commuting to our office,
- the office has a bicycle lock-up, changing room, showers
- the firm offers an incentive of a bus pass or equal cash to those who do not use a single-occupancy vehicle 80+% of work days
- the firm does not purchase parking for commuter vehicles
Further, the firm
- has a catering policy that dictates "family style" packaging rather than "box lunches"
- contracts with a cleaning company that touts a "green housekeeping" ideal
posted by Prince_of_Cups at 4:33 PM on May 2, 2011
- Free/closer parking for carpools/hybrids
- Competition to encourage biking to work
- My office has an arrangement with a local farm so we can pick up CSA veggie boxes at work, making it easier for employees to support sustainable agriculture
posted by orangejenny at 5:58 PM on May 2, 2011
- Competition to encourage biking to work
- My office has an arrangement with a local farm so we can pick up CSA veggie boxes at work, making it easier for employees to support sustainable agriculture
posted by orangejenny at 5:58 PM on May 2, 2011
Have the company sponsor relationships with car sharing companies like City Car Share or Zipcar.
posted by reddot at 7:03 PM on May 2, 2011
posted by reddot at 7:03 PM on May 2, 2011
At the office we did an after hours audit of wasted energy (lights on in conference rooms, monitors and printers turned on, etc.) A friend/coworker turned an Ikea bookshelf into a recycling center where each compartment was clearly labeled to accept different things (batteries, cell phones, printer cartridges, etc.) I believe most of what is turned in turns a small profit when recycled.
posted by mmascolino at 7:48 PM on May 2, 2011
posted by mmascolino at 7:48 PM on May 2, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
And once you get this stuff in place there is pretty much zero effort in upkeep.
posted by pwally at 11:32 AM on May 2, 2011