Top 5 Ways to Go Green at Work

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1. Electronic Bill management

You could send out all your bills electronically. Imagine how much paper this could save. All it takes is a little effort to talk to your clients to see if they would accept their bills vie e-mail. You can also pay most of your bills on line now. You save paper, envelopes, stamps and time by setting up electronic bill paying.

2. Maximize computer efficiency

Computers in the business sector unnecessarily waste $1 billion worth of electricity a year. Make it a habit to turn off your computer—and the power strip it's plugged into—when you leave for the day. Otherwise, you're still burning energy even if you're not burning the midnight oil. (Check with your IT department to make sure the computer doesn't need to be on to run backups or other maintenance.) During the day, setting your computer to go to sleep automatically during short breaks can cut energy use by 70 percent. Remember, screen savers don't save energy. Make it a policy to invest in energy-saving computers, monitors, and printers and make sure that old equipment is properly recycled. Look for a recycler that has pledged not to export hazardous e-waste and to follow other safety guidelines. Old computers that still work, and are less than five years old, can be donated to organizations that will refurbish them and find them new homes. (You may even get a tax deduction.).

3. Print smarter

The average U.S. office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year. Make it a habit to print on both sides or use the back side of old documents for faxes, scrap paper, or drafts. Avoid color printing and print in draft mode whenever feasible. Make it a policy to buy chlorine-free paper with a higher percentage of post-consumer recycled content. Also consider switching to a lighter stock of paper or alternatives made from bamboo, hemp, organic cotton, or kenaf. Recycle toner and ink cartridges and buy remanufactured ones. According to Office Depot, each remanufactured toner cartridge "keeps approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills...and conserves about a half gallon of oil."

4. Go paperless when possible

Make it a habit to think before you print: could this be read or stored online instead? When you receive unwanted catalogs, newsletters, magazines, or junk mail, request to be removed from the mailing list before you recycle the item. Make it a policy to post employee manuals and similar materials online, rather than distribute print copies. They're easier to update that way too.

5. Use Fax to E-mail services

There are dozens of services that convert your incoming faxes to an e-mail and then send it to your in box. This saves thousands of tons of paper each year as all those garbage faxes can now be deleted instead of being thrown away. Businesses will also realize savings from not having to buy so much toner. The other major benifits to this are being able to forward faxes to others, or just store them electronically.