Justin Ahrens
Sarah Ahrens
Kara Ayaram
Tim Damitz
Bob Davidson
Susan Herda
Kerri Liu
Katrina Strich
Intern
Guest Blogger
So far, January has been all about new things. New year, new president, and new resolutions. On the latter, we are taking big steps to increase our “greenness.” Last year, we started a more robust recycling system, and we estimate that we recycled over 800 pounds of cardboard, paper, and aluminum. This year, we are going further, measuring our recycling and planning on reporting it to you. We are installing recycling stations around the office to encourage more materials to avoid the trash.
We are also pleased to be new members of the Designers Accord and the Chicago Sustainable Business Alliance. In addition to these things, we’ve calculated our carbon footprint and are making efforts to reduce it. You’ll see more on that front soon.
In the mean time, we’re looking for more suggestions on being green as an office. What do you do? Do you turn your computers off at night? Do you unplug machinery on the weekend? What actually works? Share the love, and stay tuned for an entire Green2.9 update.
Thanks for putting this up. I’m inspired. Tomorrow, we will begin working on our recycling habits in our office, as a first step.
Thanks!
Give it a try! I recommend having as many recycling bins around the office as needed. It makes it much easier to actually do it. Thanks Justin!
For the small biz/home office peeps, there are a few things that are pretty simple easy starts to being a little more green.
- recycling ink cartridges is cool, but how about reusing/refilling the the old ones? Lots of small kiosks and spots will refill them with soy & water based inks. Some printers react better than others, but give it a shot.
- you may think it an odd idea, but buy a French Press for your coffee. Not only can you make a smaller batch of java without being wasteful, it also saves on water and electricity.
- a good paper shredder is not only good for security, but it can make great packing material for mailing items. Take the shreds, place them in old plastic bags (getting some re-use out of them) and surround your mailed items with them. Not ‘packing peanuts’, more like ‘packing potatoes’.
- I use the new fluorescent replacement light bulbs in the office and in my make-shift photo lightbox. A small thing but it’s something. You can actually get them in warmer tones too so you don’t get that awful old-school ‘blue haze’. Things done changed!
- it’s pretty simple to recycle paper.
- design more things that don’t require bright white papers. When a warm tone is needed, go with a cool recycled sheet.
These are just some ideas I’ve had. Nothing revolutionary. Just spitballin’ some thoughts.
These are smaller issues, more to the personal side, but it does make a difference!
- Use cloth hand towels in the bathrooms
- Cloth napkins in the kitchen, instead of paper
- Hankies! …Okay, you don’t really want to share those, but in these cold-weather months, they’re much easier on the nose.
- Ban plastic silverware, and stock the real stuff in your kitchen (I keep my own set in my desk drawer)
And, in the spirit of Reusing – I’ve picked up all of the above at resale/thrift stores for not much $green!
Steve and Jenn – Thanks for the great tips; definitely some ideas we will incorporate!
And a good idea about resale shops. I think I just might make a visit…
[...] are you doing on your 2009 resolutions? (Sorry for bringing it up). If you remember, in January we started setting some goals for our environmental standards around the office. We’ve been [...]