| prevention and recycling in the office should be high | | | | totally paperless office is still perhaps some way off, |
| on the priority list for any modern office based | | | | but a series of prevention techniques applied to this |
| business. Never before has environmental policy been | | | | medium can reduce the amount of waste your office |
| so important as we fill our landfills very quickly, and | | | | by a large degree. |
| corporations are under pressure to meet ever | | | | Here are a few tips to get you started. Stop storing |
| increasingly stringent targets for recycling passed | | | | information on paper, and transfer it to an electronic |
| down from central government through to local | | | | medium where possible. Instead of circulating memos |
| authorities. | | | | by paper copies, use a bulletin board, encourage email |
| Reduce, reuse, recycle are the key principles to keep | | | | memos or instigate single copy routing around the |
| in mind when assessing the impact of waste | | | | office. |
| anywhere, but these words are especially pertinent in | | | | Use both sides of any printed or drafted sheets prior |
| the office environment. | | | | to recycling them, have an office box set up to |
| A few basic actions can make a lot of difference. | | | | store drafts or failed prints to facilitate this action. |
| Firstly, with your office printers, set double sided | | | | Whatever paper you do use, source it from 100% |
| printing to default across the office to maximize | | | | recycled sources in the first place. |
| productivity and minimize paper wastage on essential | | | | A simple but effective tip is to use email rather than |
| prints. Instead of purchasing new printer cartridges | | | | paper for sending message. To store messages |
| every time they run out, swap them for refilled | | | | electronically instead of in a paper file set up specific |
| cartridges from a reputable supplier to minimize | | | | directories on your server to allow employees to |
| empty cartridges going to landfill. This applies to toner | | | | retrieve messages by topic. |
| cartridges too, which can be reconditioned and refilled | | | | Add a line of text to the bottom of your corporate |
| instead of thrown away and new ones purchased. | | | | email signatures for every employee that is sent to |
| If your office needs a specific item, perhaps a new | | | | both external and internal recipients along the lines of; |
| projector for a particular event or presentation, | | | | please respect the environment and do not print this |
| considering hiring instead of buying, this applies to | | | | email unless it is absolutely necessary. This promotes |
| many things, always think before requisitioning a | | | | waste reduction at source, not only of your own |
| purchase over a hire. | | | | company, but also companies you liaise with. |
| If your office has a kitchen, consider a small | | | | Do not use throwaway cups and dining equipment |
| composer or wormery to deal with organic waste | | | | for staff and visitor refreshments, invest in re-usable |
| rather than binning it with all the other trash. In the | | | | mugs and other crockery and silverware. |
| kitchen area, provide separate bins for metals, | | | | Finally, make a list over a period of 6 months of all |
| plastics and cardboard items, and then designate a | | | | the junk mail you receive and send emails or if there |
| rota to recycle the items or arrange for a recycling | | | | is no email address, physical postcards back to each |
| company to handle it. | | | | company requesting politely that they stop sending |
| The biggest waste in modern offices is paper. A | | | | unwanted mail. |