Today’s businesses understand that eco-friendly offices are a trend that bears paying attention to. With customers preferring environmentally conscious businesses, making an effort toward sustainability within your organization can increase your competitive edge and boost revenue — as well as productivity and company morale.
In fact, it’s been proven that workers perform better in offices that emphasize environmentally friendly upgrades. And that can do more than ramp up productivity — it can also help your organization attract the kind of workers that make a real difference to the level at which your enterprise operates.
Let’s look at some simple, but powerful, ways you can boost your office’s eco-friendly quotient.
7 Environmentally Friendly Office Products to Help Your Office Go Green
With more than 8.5 million tons of office furniture making its way to our overburdened landfills each year, it’s no wonder that the best, easiest, and most cost-effective way you can green up your office is to look closely at reuse and recycling.
Our selection of environmentally friendly office products centers on items that will help your office not only reduce or eliminate waste and reduce your carbon footprint, but help you reuse where it’s appropriate.
- Eliminate Single-Use Water Bottles with a Water Delivery Service
With plastic debris accounting for anywhere from 60% to 80% of all marine pollution, it’s no wonder that single-use plastics are under fire. Four states — California, New York, Maine, and Vermont — have passed bans on them and cruise lines, hotels, and other businesses are following suit.
You can green up your office and make a difference by swapping out single-use water bottles with a water delivery service and encouraging your employees to bring in their own refillable bottles for use in the office.
Water services range from hot/cold fountains that are super-filtered at the source to water that’s delivered in reusable BPA-free bottles to be chilled on an as-needed basis — it’s up to your team to decide which better serves your office environment.
- Reduce Environmental Impact with Remanufactured Printer Cartridges
According to statistics, more than 375 million OEM cartridges thrown away each year, further clogging already overburdened landfills. And, when you recognize that it takes a single one of these cartridges nearly a thousand years to completely decompose, you can understand what an enormous environmental burden they are to the health of our planet.
Additionally, these cartridges have been tagged as “potentially carcinogenic” and in landfills they have been found to leach toxic chemicals into the soil that can reach all the way to underground aquifers, polluting our precious water resources.
Each remanufactured cartridge that you buy can contribute to your overall level of corporate responsibility and commitment to sustainable practices. With each purchase, you’re keeping another cartridge out of our landfills and averting a significant chain of impacts to the environment.
- Replace Light Fixtures with LED Bulbs
A quick fix for a greener workspace involves converting your incandescent lighting to LEDs to maximize your energy efficiency. Because LEDs are so small, they put off less heat into the environment, which can, in turn, help you keep your thermostat stable and in energy conservation mode.
The energy efficiency of these bulbs means they don’t have to be changed as frequently and, since they last five to ten years, they aren’t being thrown into landfills and adding to our solid waste problems.
And, today’s wide array of LED designs means you can find practically any type of bulb you need, even in specialty sizes.
- Consider Document Management Software to Cut Down on Paper
The average office worker uses up to 10,000 sheets of paper every year, but 45% of the paper printed in offices ends up in the trash by day’s end. That’s what makes investing in document management software important in curtailing excessive use of paper.
Document management software can help reduce the amount of time employees spend looking for hard-copy documents, which can increase productivity and it can help prevent the catastrophic loss that sometimes occurs when paper-based records are damaged.
However, remember that some important documents will need to be printed in hard copy form, which brings us to our next product — refurbished printers.
- Choose Refurbished Printers to Manage Your Carbon Footprint
Even if you choose document management software, you will always need to print certain critical documents, so to keep it green, consider pairing your remanufactured print cartridge with a refurbished printer for maximum impact.
Not only will you be conserving energy and resources by buying a refurbished unit, but you can realize savings of 10-25% over a new unit. And, high-quality refurbished printers will perform as well — or better — than new versions and come with a warranty to protect against premature failure.
- Buy Recycled Paper, Tissues, Paper Towels
Since we’re talking about greener printing, don’t forget to source your copy and printer paper from companies that offer recycled papers.
Recycled paper produces 39% less solid waste using 31% of the energy it takes to create virgin fiber paper. In addition, it takes 53% less water to produce and uses no trees.
In fact, it’s estimated that if the magazine industry switched to using 100% recycled paper, it would be like removing 248,000 cars from the road — for a whole year!
- Use Refillable Whiteboard Markers
Dry erase markers are a staple in most conference rooms, allowing staff to brainstorm, organize, and make assignments during meetings and events. However, it’s often hard to find one that works when you need it, as they tend to dry out quickly.
A great way to keep them out of the trash — and avoiding frequent spending on new ones — is to purchase a refillable set. They come in all colors and can be refilled easily, at a fraction of the price of new markers.
Other Ways to Go Green for Maximum Benefit
Offices looking to become more sustainable might consider some of the following options to increase their commitment to developing an environmentally friendly work space:
- Use renewable energy sources such as solar or wind power
- Lower energy usage by using natural light to illuminate office spaces
- Reduce commuting impact by hiring remote workers or promoting walking, biking, or public transportation
- Turn off the lights, heat or air conditioning, and electronics on weekends, during holidays, and every evening after work
Remember, making a transition to a more environmentally friendly office not only helps heal our planet, it provides concrete benefits for businesses in the form of cost savings, productivity, and competitiveness.
And, while we can’t guide you on implementing all of these changes, if you’re ready to discover how remanufactured cartridges and refurbished printers can maximize your sustainability while saving you money, contact a Clover representative today.
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