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Quick wins in the office

There are a number of quick and easy steps you can take to reduce your environmental impact and save you money. Here are some to get you started. If you have any suggestions - please share your ideas with us.

Recycling/ Resource Use

  • Provide glasses and mugs rather than disposable cups
  • Limit use of disposable goods e.g. pens, in favour of reusable ones
  • Make it easy for staff to recycle as much as possible; paper, card, glass, plastic, aluminium, CDs, batteries, old phones
  • Take away individual waste bins from desks and replace with recycling bins
  • Start composting food waste
  • Lengthen the life of toner cartridges by adjusting printer settings in draft quality – and black and white
  • Recycle used toner cartridges
  • Recycle old computer equipment by giving it to local charities or community groups
  • At Christmas, make a donation to charity rather than sending cards
  • Use environmentally friendly cleaning products
  • Give an active preference to products with minimal packaging and that are locally sourced
  • Discourage excessive ordering of stationary by installing a central ordering system
  • Use local suppliers/caterers where possible
  • Maximise savings by putting up signage (printed on scrap paper) reminding staff to save energy and reduce waste
  • Fix dripping taps

Paper Use

  • Only print when necessary
  • Save paper costs by buying 100% recycled paper and reusing discarded paper for notes – recycle all double-sided ‘scrap’ and use single sided to make notepads
  • Default printers to print double-sided
  • Print internal documents in size 11 font and reduce the borders to 1.5cm
  • Inform staff whether agenda and minutes will or won't be available at meetings to avoid duplication of printing
  • Send internal memos electronically
  • Use ‘track changes’ to review documents rather than printing
  • Cancel junk mail and unwanted publications
  • Re-use bubble wrap, boxes and padded envelopes where possible
  • Collect and re-use name badges after events and meetings where possible

Energy Use

  • Minimise energy costs by ensuring that all equipment and lights are turned off (ie not left on standby) when not in use
  • Install movement sensors to meeting rooms, encourage staff to switch off light switches by labelling light switches to indicate which area of the office they light – ask security to check all lights are switched off once the building is empty
  • Encourage staff to switch off monitors when away from their desks for more than 5 – 10 minutes and to shut computers down when they leave the office. Turning off a single computer when not in use instead of on standby can save as much as £5 every year and turning one off that would have been on screen saver mode can save up to £45 a year
  • Reduce energy bills by turning down the heating when it is not needed and always ensure that this is done before opening a window – check that heating is not timed to come on overnight or at weekends
  • Turning the heating down by one degree saves 8% of the energy bill a year and the Environment Agency recommends 19 degrees Celsius is comfortable for most staff in the winter and 23 degrees Celsius in the summer
  • If extra heating is needed, use oil-fuelled rather than electric fan heaters. They use 750w of energy as opposed to 3kw
  • Ensure all light bulbs are energy efficient – LEDs are more efficient than halogen
  • Ensure air conditioning vents or heating are not blocked by office furniture/boxes
  • Switch your electricity supplier to a green tariff. Many suppliers will assist in monitoring energy use and promoting reduction

Transport use

  • Save time, inconvenience and pollution by using conference calls rather than travelling to meetings where possible
  • Provide interest-free season ticket loans
  • Use cycle couriers where possible
  • Use LPG and/or carbon neutral taxi companies and encourage use of public transport whenever possible by making this easier to book through a central system
  • Encourage staff to cycle to work by installing secure bike racks, shower facilities and cycle mileage allowance
  • Introduce travel policies that reward car sharing