Image by Hacklock via Flickr
Green is an unfamiliar color within cubicles. Sterile whites define most offices — punctuated only by shades of gray and bland blue. It’s monotony in monochrome, with employers forced to suffer the results. A new philosophy is entering the workplace, however, and it’s demanding change.
Environmentalism is a cause all businesses must embrace. The going green mantra is one of social consciousness and carbon reduction — seeking to transform wasteful practices into eco-friendly ones. Many companies assume that these methods will prove challenging, unable to be implemented within a traditional setting. There are simple ways to protect the Earth, however; and the easiest of these is simply ignoring paper.
Memos and letters, announcements and dictations: words shape all offices, with pages used every day to exchange information. This causes a high demand for paper — and 3,000,000,000 trees are harvested each year for this purpose. The effect on forests and wildlife is immense, with over 60,000 square kilometers of habitats removed.
Offices can offer relief from this, however. Green practices allow them to ignore the usual paper products — replacing them instead with electronic communications. Emails, forum posts, PDF files, attachments and more are available; and these reduce an individual company’s reliance on pages by over 70 percent.
This number is undeniable: and businesses choosing to support it directly (and positively) influence the cause of environmentalism. Trees are spared and preservation occurs. The use of technology offers hope for the Earth — and the future.
