Here are tips and resources to help your workplace prevent
pollution, conserve resources, make your work environment healthier, and save
money!

Reduce Ad Mail

Places receive a great deal of unsolicited mail for
products and services. Even when these materials are wanted, there can be a
tremendous amount of waste, like mail for previous staff. Multiple mailings
or poorly targeted mailings, like E-commerce seminars for your building maintenance
staff, add to waste.

This creates a lot of paper waste to be sorted for disposal or recycling.
A significant amount of staff time is invested in handling and sorting. A six-week
study showed that the mailroom staff was spending 25% of its time sorting Standard
Class advertising mail. What can you do about this?

• Assign
  someone to call or email businesses that send you advertising you do not
  want. Ask them to remove you from their list.
• Be
  careful how you share your business information.

Purchasing & Shipping Reuse

• Purchase
  products in concentrated form or in bulk.
• Negotiate
  with suppliers to provide merchandise in returnable or reusable packaging
  or in packaging that you can recycle through your recycling program.
• Instead
  of cardboard boxes, use durable containers for shipping to your branch offices,
  stores, or warehouses.
• Set
  up a system for returning cardboard boxes and packaging materials to distributors
  for reuse.
• Reuse
  packaging materials, such as boxes, newspaper, tissue, polystyrene “peanuts,” and
  foam pads from incoming shipments, as alternatives to buying new packing
  material.
• Return,
  reuse and repair wooden pallets and crates.
• When
  billing customers, use “two-way” envelopes, which can be folded inside out
  and returned to you with payment.

Buy Green for Your Office

Create a green purchasing guide for company purchasing.

• Refurbish
  and buy refurbished office equipment.
• Reuse
  and refill toner cartridges and ribbons.
• Purchase
  non-toxic and biodegradable cleaners.
• Buy
  products that are reusable, returnable, or refillable.
• Buy
  recycled office products that contain post-consumer recycled material.
• Choose
  durable materials and furnishings to reduce replacement cost and waste.

Sustainable Office Space Design

Consider the following ideas when building, renovating,
or designing office space.

• Recyclable
  carpeting.
• Improve
  air quality (HVAC system).
• Recycle
  bins & services, including paper bins.
• Place
  hot water sources close to kitchens, labs, and showers to conserve energy.
• Purchase
  locally produced building supplies.
• Purchase
  certified wood products.
• Low
  energy or heat mirror windows.
• Use
  low or no toxic materials.
• Use
  Light Shelves to provide natural light throughout the building.
• Use
  flexible interiors, like moveable walls, to reduce renovation waste.
• Use
  reusable dishware in your coffee or cafeteria area.
• Use
  cloth towel roll dispensers in bathrooms and cloth towels in kitchens.
• Have
  your building’s organic waste sent to a composting facility.

Reduce Paper Waste

Reducing or preventing paper waste is more cost effective
than recycling. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the average
office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year! Consider buying the
most environmentally friendly paper (100% post consumer recycled and chlorine
free) to stock in your printers, copiers and fax machines. Ideas for reducing
office paper:

• Double-sided
  copying and printing.
• Reusing
  paper. Keep a collection box by the copy machine for bad copies.
• Make
  use of electronic communication.
• Eliminate
  or use smaller cover sheets.
• Reuse
  items from old packaging.
• Reuse
  materials through clients, customers, and consumers.

Start a Recycling Program

Recycling will affect every employee in your company
and require changing several procedures. Consider starting up a recycling program
in your office. At least offer a proposal, on how and why to start a recycling
program, to your management. Here are the basic steps to begin and maintain
a successful recycling program in your office. Please refer to resource box
to view or download detailed steps.

1. Enlist
   the Support of Top Management
2. Identify
   a Recycling Coordinator
3. Understand
   Your Recycling Options
4. Select
   a Recycling Company
5. Designate
   Collection and Storage Areas
6. Promote
   the Program
7. Sustain
   the Program
8. Monitor
   the Program

Use a Great, Green Printer

For outsourced printing jobs, consider using a Great
Printer. Meet with them before your item is designed to get design tips for
printing efficiency (page size, layout, page count) to avoid paper and ink
waste.

The Great Printer Environmental Initiative is a program of the Printing Industry
of Minnesota (PIM) aimed at increasing environmental, health and safety compliance,
and pollution prevention within the printing industry. They pledge to minimize,
reuse, and recycle wastes while maximizing energy efficiencies. Visit the link
in the resource box to learn more and find a printer.

Green Your Commute

American workers spend an average of 147 hours per
year commuting through rush hour traffic according to the 2010 Annual Urban
Mobility Report. This adds up to 3.7 billion hours and 23 billion gallons of
gas each year! We can ease some of this strain by carpooling, taking public
transit, biking, walking, or a creative combination of them. For transportation
options such as Vanpool, Hourcar and Nice Ride, see Metro Transit Options and
Beyond Metro Transit articles in the Transportation section.