Being Green at Work

No, we are not talking about the latest St. Patrick’s Day party. Rather we are looking at ways to become more energy conscious and help protect the environment at the office or workplace. According to the ENERGY STAR website, the places where we like to work, shop and learn account for nearly half the nation’s energy use.

Despite being energy conscious at home, many people are not energy conscious at work – probably because it’s not their dime. The energy bill is paid for by the company. But the other big reason for energy efficiency is to fight global warming.

Here are some tips from the ENERGY STAR website to use at work to conserve energy and improve the environment.

¨ Look for and utilize the ENERGY STAR power management settings in your computer and monitor so they go into power save mode when not in use.

¨ Use a power strip as a central turn-off for your office equipment to completely disconnect the power supply.

¨ Once items such as cell phones and laptops are completely charges, unplug the charger. Even though they may not be plugged into the device they are charging, they are still consuming energy by being plugged in.

¨ Suggest to management that light bulbs be replaced with ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs. It will last up to ten times longer and use one-fourth of the energy of a standard incandescent bulb.

¨ Don’t let papers pile up, especially over air vents. It uses up to 25 percent more energy to pump air into the workspace if vents are blocked.

¨ Team up with co-workers and make it a standard practice to be energy efficient in your work-place. The more folks you get to be energy efficient, the more money the company saves and you will help the environment at the same time!