There are many ways on how to arrive at better lifestyle in this contemporary era, and one the best among them is going green to preserve the world from serious harm later on. As signs of global warming have modified the world, we need to act responsibly to save our environment. We begin as individuals at our respective homes, in our neighborhood to our workplaces.
In this article, we will tackle five ideas on how our offices can be transformed and designed into a green work environment.
1. Reuse, recycle and cut your usage of paper.
Paper is one of the most consumed products in any office. We print and write notices, reminders and other important documentations on them. To constitute a green work procedure, instead of printing office notes, send them via email to co-workers, clients and suppliers instead. You can also opt for an online web portal where every stakeholder in your project or team can have access in viewing, creating or modifying notes without the use of the physical paper material.
If using paper is really necessary, suggest the purchasing department to acquire and buy recycled or reusable paper products. If your office receives regular newsletters, professional journals or magazines, ask if you can subscribe online rather than them sending you copies by mail.
Another way to cut back on paper is to take the blank side of the used printed materials (e.g. outdated manuals, forms, letters, drafts) and print internal notes on it. When photocopying, setup the printer in such a way that it prints both sides of the paper.
Place trash bins with a recycle or reuse signage near or next to workstations and other areas where there is a great number of paper spent.
2. Reduce energy consumption.
By common sense, turning off computers and lights when they are not in use can save electricity and energy. Other suggestions are:
- Replace light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs which treats the environment better lasts much longer.
- Use natural lighting whenever possible. Arrange workstations to face the windows so that you don’t have to turn on any lights in the daytime.
- Set up time switches for your air conditioners to make the units run more efficiently. Clean and replace air filters regularly to ensure that cold and clean air is well ventilated.
- Use laptops instead of desktop computers. Laptops not only save space, it is also portable and saves lesser energy overall as it helps reduce carbon emissions. They also help save trees by using less packaging. With a PC, every part comes with a guide and in different boxes. A laptop uses only one small package while the manual can be downloaded from the Internet.
- When you’re done in the workplace and everybody has left for the day, instead of just turning electrical appliances off, unplug everything or turn power strips off. By doing so, you will save a hefty amount of energy and bills in the long term.
3. Reuse appliances.
Instead of buying new fixtures, try searching for appliances at rummage sales, second-hand or resell stores. Or if you have time, just give your old products an experience lift! Get innovative. You can also rent or lease equipment. There are companies/manufacturers now which offer to lease photocopiers and printers for other businesses.
4. Save transportation means.
When possible, try getting to work by using public transportation, carpooling, walking (if nearby) or riding a bicycle or a scooter. If work can be done at home, allow telecommuting. Working from home saves you electricity, transportation costs and other utilities; just make sure your employees can be easily be contacted wherever they are.
Arrange web or virtual conferences or phone meetings instead of going on to meeting places physically. If you can utilize the power of the Internet for business presentations, take advantage of it to reduce fuel consumption and use of vehicles that emit greenhouses gases. Moreover, greenhouse gases contribute to peoples' increase in health-related complications from breathing in the incredible amount of air pollution.
Also, sign up for using online systems such as online banking to make transactions and other business concerns.
5. Involve everyone.
Involving all employees to go green is probably the most important action. Teach them the green options and Eco-friendly efforts in the overall implementation of using, supplying and incorporating a path to becoming a green conscious business. One short example is to have them practice green considerations on their own in the office pantry. Have them bring their own dishes, utensils and reusable containers and silverware rather than disposable ones. Avoid using plastic cups and Styrofoam products.
Going green doesn't only help the environment but also saves us money. By make practicing consistently, it can save the next generation from emissions effected. Essentially, the green program is not hard to do; we just need to realize how important it to save costs, energy and our lives.
Also, going green may help promote the business, as customers would prefer earth-friendly products and they will choose a company applying green systems over others. This thereby increase profits and improve the impression of your company onto the public world.
Author bio:
Alexis Thompson is a former Mountain Backpacker and a 26 year old mother of 2 daughters, Sophie and Rhian. She is into almost all types of Music especially The Fray and Hillsong. She also has a passion in Singing and Scrap Booking. Follow her escapades on her Twitter.
I know, I know—when we're sick, the last thing on our mind is, well, anything but our sickness. We're sick and miserable and only want to feel well again. Being sick typically gives us a hall pass of sorts for being really selfish—requesting soup, staying in bed all day, constantly complaining. Though it's not something we often think about, there are many ways that we can make our everyday things—like visiting the doctor—a more environmentally friendly event. There are tons of small and seemingly insignificant things we can do to help lessen our carbon footprint on this earth. Just thinking outside of the box a little and trying when you can to make a difference can be a wonderful testament to green living. Next time you're feeling green try these easy steps to having a greener (in a good way!) doctor's visit.
Make a Green Commute
This concept can be applied to any daily task we have that requires some sort of a commute. Even just by using our cars on one less trip, we can reduce environmentally harmful gas consumption and car emissions. If you have a doctor's appointment, consider using public transportation to get there. If you're sick and staying home from work, you don't have to worry as much about getting in and out of the appointment quickly. Take the bus or metro rail if they are available to use. This can be beneficial for both the environment and your health. Use your trip on the bus or train to sit back and relax—you don't have to pay attention to the road. It's also important to consider the number of trips you make. If you aren't sick enough to have to go to the doctor, it might be a good idea to wait off and see if your immune system will do its job (of course, this entirely depends on the individual). Also consider other doctor's related stops you might need to make after your appointment. If you need to go to a separate pharmacy after your visit, try to do that on your way home from the doctor to avoid multiple trips.
Go Paperless
Another great way to reduce waste during your next doctor's business is trying to go paperless with billing. Today, many doctor's offices offer receipts and appointment overviews that you can access through an online database or via email. At doctor's visits you can accumulate a lot of unnecessary paper. See if there is a way you can get electronic instructions, bills, receipts, etc. from your doctor instead. Furthermore, by doing the billing process electronically you can more easily keep track of things for insurance and financial purposes. With everything accessible online, you can be sure never to lose billing documents or other important medically related things.
Think Reusable
As every "greeny" knows, even the small steps count. Doing every little thing we can to reduce our waste and help out our environment is worthwhile. For your next doctor's appointment consider taking your own reusable water bottle. Drinking water consistently when you are ill is very important. Rather than using the plastic or styrofoam cups that they usually offer in the doctor's office, take your own water bottle to use. This can also help you stay away from unwanted germs that might be lingering on cups sitting in the doctor's waiting room. Also, while magazines in a doctor's office are a staple, rather than waste the paper of an entire magazine try taking your own entertainment. Use an electronic reader (Kindle, iPad, etc.) or play games on your phone to reduce paper waste.
About the author:
Amelia Wood contributed this guest post. She pursues freelance writing projects in the medical billing and coding niche. She especially loves hearing back from her readers. Questions or comments can be sent to wood. amelia1612 @ gmail.com.
Next time you're at the grocery store buying produce grown ten states away, don't be too shocked at the price. You know transportation costs are factored in, and you know what gas prices are like right now. But did you know the semi trucks used to haul food from where it's grown to where it's sold only average about six miles per gallon? Large trucks are responsible for roughly 20 percent of the petroleum consumption in the United States. No wonder strawberries, cherries, and avocados are so expensive.
The trucking industry, and the design of the trucks themselves, have remained largely unchanged for the past five decades. As car manufacturers come out with more and more eco-friendly hybrid models, and drivers downsize from Hummers to hatchbacks, tractor-trailer trucks continue to guzzle gas as they crisscross the country, there by inflating prices of produce and other items we buy every day. It's time for a change. Here are just a few ways the trucking industry can go green.
Reduce Speed
Sounds simple, doesn't it? It is. The faster any vehicle goes, the more fuel it uses. Add several tons of cargo in the trailer, and even more fuel is consumed. Part of what causes truck drivers to speed is the sometimes unrealistic schedules they're given to make deliveries. They must drive faster to meet deadlines. In addition, some trucking companies pay their drivers by the mile. More miles covered means higher paychecks, so there's incentive to speed.
Sadly, aside from using more fuel, this also increases the risk of trucking accidents. The first change the trucking industry can make toward being green is to move away from the pay-per-mile model, and take away the incentive for drivers to speed. Less gas will be used, and the probability of truck crashes will decrease.
Use Alternative Fuels
Now that so many hybrid car models are being manufactured, the next logical step seems obvious—adjust that technology to make it applicable to and usable in semi trucks. It may be a more difficult proposition taking into account the size of the trucks, and full trailers, which can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. But it will be one of the most effective ways to green the trucking industry, thereby saving money from the trucking companies all the way down to the individual consumers.
In addition to ethanol fuels, or possibly electric options for trucks, another possible fuel source is solar energy. The tops of trailers offer about 300 square feet of surface area where solar panels could be installed. Imagine a truck being recharged as it was driven. Not only would this save on gas, it would mean fewer stops for the driver (aside from rest stops and breaks) because of not having to refuel, which would mean cargo arriving at its destination more quickly. In addition, solar-powered trucks would mean a reduction in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Build Aerodynamic Trucks
You've seen those huge semi trucks barreling down the highway. Haven't you ever wondered about the aerodynamics of those big, square cabs, not to mention the giant rectangular trailers? Luigi Colani had the same questions, and he decided to do something about them. Colani first began tinkering with the idea of an aerodynamic, fuel-efficient semi truck in the early 1970s during the OPEC oil embargo that caused gas prices to soar out of control. Once that crisis died down, though, no one was really interested in hearing his ideas.
Fast forward to 2008, when the United States was on the brink of an economic crisis, and gas prices were once again skyrocketing. Colani had been perfecting his design over the course of about 40 years, and his idea is getting closer to fruition. His trucks look like futuristic vehicles from a science fiction movie, but test showed they reduced fuel consumption by 30 to 50 percent. The biggest obstacle right now is cost. The trucks cost $1 million to build. Until a truck manufacturer agrees to mass-produce them, they'll remain out of reach for trucking companies.
These are just a few of the ways trucking companies can go the eco-friendly route, not only saving themselves money, but passing those savings along to the consumer. For now, you'll have to keep paying premium prices for your strawberries.
Noble McIntyre is the senior partner and owner of McIntyre Law (website: http://www.oklahoma-law.com/) and an experienced Oklahoma truck accident attorney.
Photo credits: Walmart Stores and Living Off Grid
These days, numerous well-known technologies are about to be replaced with new ones. This thing happens in almost every single sector of activity, being caused by one important thing: efficiency. None wants to keep on spending huge amounts of money on different products, which cannot deliver what we are looking for. Similar to many other domains, which are slowly turning these days into new fields, the automobile industry is also changing. Numerous studies predict the fact that more and more people will opt for electric cars in the near future. Is this statement well founded?
Electric Cars: From A to Z
The electric vehicles enjoyed a great popularity between the middle of 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Those days were marked by electrical automobile propulsion, which used to provide an easier operation and higher level of comfort than the gasoline cars. However, the numerous advancements in combustion technology together with quick refueling times, mass production of vehicles on gasoline, great range of models, and other elements have led to reduced prices of the gasoline cars and obviously, the decline of the electric propulsion cars. Until now.
Lately, more and more studies have shown that gasoline has a really harmful impact over the environment. Furthermore, the gasoline production is much more reduced than a few years back, which has already led to some truly high prices. These things together with the peak oil issues and advances in battery technology have renewed our interest in electric vehicles. Moreover, these vehicles are much cheaper to maintain and more environmentally friendly than the gasoline cars.
Electric Cars and Their Efficiency
A great thing about the electric cars is the fact that they are truly efficient. However, we cannot deny the fact that there are a few positive and negative points that relate to these cars. The following paragraphs explain a few of them.
- Price: For the moment, the electric vehicles are more expensive than their gasoline counterparts are. The first reason why these cars are more expensive than the others relates to the fact that the car batteries come along with some truly high price tags. A recent survey shows that about 76% of Britons and 65% of US citizens are not interested in paying more for an electric car. As well, these cars operate with the help of a few additional parts, such as electric vehicle charger, which also implies some expenses. This is because if the electric vehicle charger gets broken, it must be replaced with a new one.
- Running and Maintenance Costs: Some people worry about the maintenance costs. As the running costs mainly relate to battery replacement, the overall maintenance costs for an electric vehicle total a much lower amount when compared to a gasoline vehicle. This thing means that an electric vehicle is much more efficient than one on gasoline. For instance, Tesla Roadster comes along with a large battery pack, which lasts for 7 years and costs $12,000. If the person is going to drive 40 miles every day for 7 years, the battery consumption is about $0.18 per mile. Furthermore, the companies that deliver batteries and electricity to recharge them anticipate that they will be able to develop some better systems and electric vehicle charger models, which will lower the costs to $0.05 per mile by 2016 and $0.02 by 2020. Similar estimates have also been presented by Nissan for its Leaf, BMW for i3 and i8, Renault, Volkswagen, and others. These figures show us that that the electric cars are more efficient than the gasoline ones.
- Fuel: In order to compare the “fuel” costs, Tesla issued a report, which shows that driving a Roadster 40 miles every day ranges from $0.56 to $3.18. The cost varies so greatly because it depends on the time of day the driver chooses to recharge his car. Comparing this data to the details of a gasoline gas, we can easily observe that the cost is more than double. This is because driving a gasoline car 40 miles takes 1.6 gallons of fuel. At a cost of $4/gallon, the total cost would be of $6.4. Once again, the electric cars show a higher efficiency than the internal combustion vehicles.
What Is Next
Besides the aforementioned points, we must also admit that the electric cars do not produce any harmful pollution. For this reason, they are generally referred to as zero-emission vehicles. In conclusion, the world is going to change regardless of whether we like it or not. But, the good news is that it is headed in the right direction.
It's pretty much been agreed that electric cars are the way of the future. With finite amounts of petroleum at our disposal (experts estimate it will be gone within the next 50 years or potentially even a lot sooner at the current rate of usage) and the rising toll of hydrocarbon pollution being felt on even the farthest reaches of the planet (goodbye, polar ice caps!) the internal combustion engine as we know it will likely become a thing of the past within most of our lifetimes. And while many automakers are slow to make the transition, many have at least started to offer a couple of eco-friendly options in the way of alternative-fuel, hybrid, or fully electric vehicles amongst their lineup of gas-guzzlers. But the truth is that consumers really decide when a product becomes desirable, and in a bid to get you, the average consumer, on board with buying electric, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) did a study to see just how much the average driver stands to save.
The UCS is an interesting and noteworthy entity in and of itself. The non-profit organization has been around for decades; incredibly, it started in 1969 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when a number of teachers and students teamed up to conduct independent research on technology and the environment as a way to offer the government, companies, and consumers ways to make the world a healthy and safe place for all of its inhabitants. Since then they have become "an alliance of more than 400,000 citizens and scientists", according to their website. And they're all working on behalf of our planet's future (not to mention our future on it).
Along those lines, a recent study comparing the costs of fueling a petroleum-powered vehicle versus an electric one has yielded some interesting (but not unexpected) results. It turns out that driving an electric car is cheaper; no surprise there. But you might be shocked to learn that on average, you could save somewhere in the neighborhood of $750-$1,200 each year by making the switch. Of course, this assumes that the average vehicle gets about 27 mpg, that gas prices are $3.50 per gallon, and probably that the average driver travels about 15,000 miles each year. The range of prices apparently results from the fact that the cost of electricity varies so widely from place to place. But one thing is certain: it's a lot less expensive than gasoline. And if your car gets lower miles per gallon, or gas prices in your area tend to be higher, you could end up saving a lot more year upon year.
It may not be quite enough to justify skipping the trip to your Mercedes-Benz or BMW dealer this year in favor of a date with a Fisker or Tesla representative, although if you're looking to save money you wouldn't go for one of these high-priced electric beauties anyway. However, anyone who wants to save on the cost of a new car as well as gas should keep in mind that many automakers now provide options for plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles, both of which still come with a variety of government incentives (both federal and state, in some cases). This could make purchasing a greener vehicle all the more appealing from a financial standpoint.
