Besides being able to work in your bath robe, there is one other big benefit of working from home: you have control over how green you’d like your workplace to be.
Here are nine simple tips to start greening your home office:
- Pull up the blinds and let in some natural light. Or turn on a small lamp if you need it (with energy-efficient light bulbs).
- The simple fact you’re working from home means you’ve lessened your environmental impact by not driving to and from work every day. Continue to leave the car in your garage and conduct meetings via video conference.
- Buy recycled paper, print on both sides, reuse file folders, and recycle your printer ink. Shop around for the greenest office supplies, and only buy them if you really need them.
- Power your wireless keyboard and mouse with rechargeable batteries, and when you do need to toss batteries, make sure you recycle them.
- At the end of the day, shut down your computer, turn off your monitor, and unplug everything you can. Make it even easier to shut down by plugging several devices into a surge protector so you can switch them all off at once.
- Find other people in your community who work from home and see where it makes sense to coordinate. During the summer months, you’ll save on air conditioning if you gather as a group in one person’s space. You might also enjoy the company!
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This week’s tips made possible by our friends at The First National Bank in Sioux Falls.
Filed under: One Tip to Know, Workplace
