Because I have “green” in the name of my company, it’s assumed that I am “green” – geared toward the environment.
In reality, I’m not a hard-core environmentalist but there are things that I do on a regular basis to be respectful of my environment.
I had a client named Janet whose goal was to clean up trash along roadsides. Her goal was to organize roadside clean ups in a community and also speak in schools to encourage kids to clean up the environment and to reduce our energy usage.
This isn’t only about saving the environment but also saving you time, which is your own natural resource.
Print on both sides of the paper
I rarely throw away paper that only has printing on one side. I print on both sides of the paper if it’s just something for internal use. I cleaned out my files a couple months ago and was able to reuse a couple hundred pages of paper, even those that were several years old.
Use online conferencing calls
I use a free conference call service to have meetings with my clients and team members. I also use Gotomeeting if there is something we need to see on a computer screen. The $50 I spend each month is worth the amount of time I spend in the car and the gas I put in the tank.
Recycle my printer cartridges
They are small but they are a waste to put them in the trash. And you can get money for them at the major office supply stores. And some cartridges are refillable.
Don’t Print out Things Unnecessarily
I sometimes I think it’s a good idea to print out something so I don’t lose it, but I invariably end up with a big pile of paper on my desk. So I’ve moved away from printing out things unless I really need it. I recently did a website where the client was concerned that the pages weren’t printing out correctly. I hadn’t checked this since I rarely print out web pages. I just bookmark the site and go back to it if I need it.
Network with people on places like Linked In.
I used to go to networking meetings on a regular basis but the time and effort it took to get there was wasteful. I ask people if we can network on the phone instead of grabbing coffee. If it seems like it makes sense to partner together on things then I’ll arrange a meeting. But to me it’s more helpful to do things by phone or with Linked In.
Keep the Temperature Down
I’ll wear a sweater or sweatshirt instead of cranking up the heat. If it gets too chilly, I have a space heater to warm things up for a bit and then keep the door closed to keep the heat in. During the winter we have our thermostat set to go down during the day when my family isn’t around so I just keep my office at a reasonable temperature and then where a sweater if I need to grab lunch upstairs.
So, those are few of my tips. Hope you can incorporate some of them into your day.
Comments are closed.