Save Green by Going Green

It is not a secret that many businesses are trying to save money. It’s a recession, who doesn’t want to save money? So here are a few ways Going Green can save your business some money:

ELECTRICTY

1. Switch to Energy Efficient Lights such as Halogen Incandescent, Light-Emitting Diode (LED) or Compact Fluorescent (CFL). These lights can be found anywhere from Target to Home Depot.

Do you already have Energy Efficient Lights? Or does this is pose an inconvenience to change all your light bulbs? Well here’s the answer to help you save money on your electricity bill. Turn off the lights! When no one is in the room, turn off the lights. Do you need all the lights to be turned on during a bright sunny day? Turn the lights on when it’s dark.

- Suggestion: Install Sky Lights, have the Sun light your office during the day.

- Install Motion Sensored Lights. The Lights turns on automatically when someone enters the room. Lights will turn off automatically after minutes of inactivity in a room.

2. Turn off the computers every night. If you’re leaving your desk during a lunch break, set your computer to sleep.

HEATING AND COOLING

3. Keeping an office area cool/ warm can eat up a lot of money. At night turn your Thermostat down and raise it a little during the day. Lowering your Thermostat 3 to 4 degrees makes a difference in your heating/cooling bill. For optimal heating and cooling, consider installing insulation into the walls. Insulation prevents air from leaking from a room.

OFFICE SUPPLIES

4. Buy recycled paper and ink cartridge. Set your printer to print documents on both sides of paper.

5. Use scratch paper take notes. If not then recycle the paper. You can also use programs such as OneNote or Microsoft Word to take notes on your computer lap top.

6. Use services like Ring Central to have faxes sent to your email. Only print faxed documents when necessary. When faxes come in, they are sent directly to your email.

7. If you don’t mind holes in your paper, buy a staple-less stapler. Yes it does exist. The Staple-less Stapler works by cutting out a tab of the paper, wrapping it around and tucking it back into a small slot. It only works on a few sheets of paper and doesn’t work too well if you handle that document numerous times. But you can try it out for yourself.

8. Cut down on envelopes and postage by paying bills online. You can also contact customers and vendors via email or skype. Almost everyone has a smart phone; it seems more practical to receive documents instantly though email than to receive a document/notice a week later.