3 No Brainers for the Eco-Challenged

Sure, you pride yourself on separating paper from plastic while dragging blue canisters to the curb on Tuesdays.  Or perhaps you once attended a Green Festival with your environmentally conscious niece and walked away with a bag you can reuse for groceries (but always forget in the car).  Or maybe, just maybe, you convinced your company to put recycling bins in the break room so that all the empty water bottles could be reincarnated as an apron, carpet or bicycle rack.    

I know you’re trying, and for that alone you should be applauded.  But here’s the thing – you can do better.  We all can, which is why I have three absolutely fail-proof, no-brainer concepts for you and your eco-challenged organization:

1. Change Your E-Mail Signature Line – I’ve had four Fortune 500 clients email me about their pending adoption following a recently modification to my signature line.  This is an incredibly simple means of reminding employees and clients that not everything must be memorialized in paper form.  Here’s all it takes to save thousands per year:                                                                   P Please consider the environment before printing this email.
2. Double-Side When You Print - So you have to print something for a meeting.  No, I get it, it happens and sometimes can’t be avoided.  But why not use the double-sided option on your corporate printer?  Also called “duplex”, this should be set as your default by your IT department.  Urban Impact has other suggestions that can help you in this area as well.
3. Hit the Lights - When you leave a room (even one with auto on/off), just turn off the lights.  Conference rooms, hallways, break rooms, bathrooms, offices, reception areas (after hours)….just turn the frickin’ lights off people!  I live in Washington, DC, and every night I can look across the river and see towers of empty office buildings blazing away like Christmas trees.  This one can have a huge impact on costs and waste.

If you’re still reading and are thinking, “Um, no-duh Mark, these are pretty obvious”, you win the prize.  The problem is that the most obvious solutions are often the most overlooked.  Stop looking for big-bang wins and begin with little victories such as these.  You’ll feel good (maybe even smug for those who need that extra push) and help the environment.  So let’s start saving and keep the conversation going.