4 ways to go green in your office!

Most of my time during the day is spent in the office, so I though it would be a good place to start going green. It also provides an avenue to take some time away from that stressful and never ending work. Bare in mind, going green can be small little gestures. If everyone in your office follows suit, the end result can be tremendous. It’s all about saving Earth.

#1. Switch off your monitor when you go for lunch break

You know the LCD monitor on your desktop with your favourite picture as the wallpaper? Yup that's the one. Since most of the time, lunch break about an hour or more, shouldn’t we switch off our PC’s monitor before we leave for lunch? Even if you Ta Pao (take away) and will be back in 20mins, you should switch it off too.

How to do it

It’s easy and takes about 2 seconds. Look at your monitor and search for a power button, usually with a LED indicator light. It should be just below the screen along the borders. Now, press the power button. That’s all! When done correctly, your monitor should look like a dark/black piece of glass without any wallpaper or light.

#2. Cut down on tissue paper usages

I’m sure most ladies out there have cherry sized mouth, and that 4-ply paper handkerchief for a single wipe is just too wasteful. Be generous and share with your colleagues. Spread the love, share the joy!

How to do it

Okay, it may sound magical here but read carefully. Look at the sides and corners of the tissue paper and you will notice that there should be more than one ply. Lightly use your fingers to split it and gently pull the plies apart. Walla ~ you have 2, 3 or 4 (depending on the ply) pieces of tissue papers! Pass to those who need it and proceed to wipe.

#3. Do not print documents which you do not need

Sometimes, there is an invisible force that forces people to print out documents, including emails. When you do not need that document, which a lot of emails are, just read it on screen and save the print! Not only you cut down on paper usage, it also saves ink and electricity too. When you have to print it out, ask yourself is that for self reading? If so, reuse old documents’ papers, chances are those documents are printer single sided and the back side is still blank.

How to do it

This one could be tricky. Every time before you print something, stop and ask yourself “do I really have to?” stop for few seconds and think about it. And when documents are for you, reuse paper and print on the blank side. Ask your IT guy for help with regards to feeding reuse paper to printers.

#4. Switch AC temperature to 24°C or more

Many of you should know this one. Sometimes Singapore weather can be a killer. The afternoon sun is hotter than J-Lo and Beyoncé combined. The air-conditioner cools the office but does nothing to cool our hearts and soul. So tune to the temperature that most are comfortable with. Stop acting like a Eskimo cuz’ you’re not. The higher the temperature, the less energy it uses. The rough guide now is at 24°C, but every one degree increment saves more.

How to do it

Go to your local remote control for the AC, find the button for adjusting the temperature. Tune it to 24°C. That’s all, simple. Also, ask your HR department for the maintenance schedule of the AC system. Frequent maintaining increase the efficiency thus uses less energy – also cleans the air that we inhale!

Do you have any ideas and tips on recycling or going green? Or any green related events coming up in Singapore? Leave a comment or tweet me @reversebungee . I’ll add it here to publicise it.