One of the things that Girlawhirl's noticed as she tries to green up her life, is that it's hard to stick to her three R's – recycling, reusing and re-evaluating – in the office. Maybe it's because there are so many people there, or perhaps that there aren't may green standards and practices in her company, but Girlawhirl sees this as an opportunity to get a few green ideas going in her department, and perhaps the company as a whole…
• One thing that Girlawhirl just can't stand is when she makes her way over to the shared printer and sees so many single sheets of paper with just a URL printed across the top. Usually she automatically recycles that sheet right back into the printer's paper reservoir, but it appears she's the only one. So she talked her IT department into using her department as a test group for GreenPrint, a printer program that, among other functions, allows Girlawhirl and her colleagues to prevent those pages with just the URL on them from being printed at all. Girlawhirl hopes that after the program has been tested in her department, it can be rolled out to the rest of the company.
To read more and download a 14 day free trial of GreenPrint click here
• Girlawhirl's also instituted a few changes in the office kitchenette. With management's blessing, she's encouraged everyone in her office, not just those that report to her, to replace their paper coffee cups with mugs and those little cones by the water cooler with real glasses. One thing led to another and now there's real silverware, dishes and other re-usable replacements for typical lunch-hour throwaways. Sure there's a little washing up involved, but no one seems to mind.
• Girlawhirl has made no secret of her love for her new favorite office supply, her staple-less stapler. It's just plain cool the origami-like way that it manages to keep four sheets of paper together without a staple. But even better, there are no staples to remove when, down the road, she's recycling her files. She's made sure that everyone on her team has one on their desk.
For more information and to purchase a staple-less stapler click here
•In an office full of fashion fanatics, one can be sure that each and every woman has subscriptions to all the fashion magazines. Shocked by reports that most of the magazines she and her co-workers read are not printed on recycled paper, Girlawhirl, who's always made a point of recycling her own magazines, had a great idea. Now the magazines come to the office and they all share one set of subscriptions. There's usually a stack of mags to grab by the copier and printer. And Girlawhirl noticed recently that a few books – and even a pair of shoes – have made their way to this designated spot.
• Last, but certainly not least, Girlawhirl has one last task that she's started doing right before she walks out of the office every night. She turns off her power strip. As it turns out, her computer and all the other devices with chargers that are plugged into an outlet, still draw energy even if the device is turned off. So unplugging them is important, and it's just easier for Girlawhirl to turn off her power strip each night instead of physically unplugging everything from it. Another thing she can do during the day is make sure that her computer goes into sleep mode when she's not at her desk, which reduces its energy use by 90%.
related articles:
| Jan 25, 2007: | Girlawhirl goes green in little ways that add up to big differences. read full entry |
| Jun 28, 2006: | Girlawhirl finds a way to help the environment with energy efficient lightbulbs. read full entry |