Making A More Sustainable Office

The best way to reduce office waste is not to produce it in the first place. Before buying any kind of supplies for your office, ask yourself if you need to buy the goods or materials, or if you are simply buying too much. 

Use electronic communication whenever possible to reduce printing and faxing, and try to encourage staff not to print out documents or emails if possible. Reuse or recycle paper, printer toner and ink cartridges that you would normally just toss out. 

If you are replacing computers, look into computer recycling. The amount of office paper currently sent to landfills is huge, and totally unsustainable for the planet. 

Here are some startling numbers:

A typical business office will produce about 1.5 pounds of paper waste per employee each day.

The paper industry ranks 4th in contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, and contributes 9% of the manufacturing sector’s carbon emissions.

For every ton of recycled paper it can save up to 17 trees.

40% of the solid mass in landfills is paper and paperboard waste 14.

Companies that use well-thought out waste reduction and waste management strategies eventually will see better financial and environmental benefits. 

Minimize the amount of waste you do produce, and recycle what you can after items have been reused. This will allow you to make save money on office waste disposal costs and reduce your business’ impact on the environment.

Read more: Making A More Sustainable Office | Sustainability Ninja

Photo source: http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2012/02/5-best-tips-to-make-green-office.html 

GreenSabah says: We can improve the environment by making small changes in the workplace, such as reducing printing and faxing and just send everything through emails. With the advanced technology nowadays, there is no need to create so much waste. Try to use cloud storage to share out documents and files.