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Reducing Paper, Supporting Conservation

Papers

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.

 

Filed Under: business, Eco Friendly Benefits Tagged With: , ,

Technology Tips: Environmentalism in Industry

Computer Keyboard

Image by freefotouk via Flickr

Environmentalism is the noblest of ideas. This is a truth you’ll confess freely — as long as it’s followed by utter confusion of how to achieve it. Protecting the Earth seems too complicated, especially when that protection is applied to your business. Trying to tame technology to conservation is a concept you simply don’t understand; and you assume that implementing it within your company would demand too much time (and far more sanity).

There are ways to go green in business without gaining frustration, however — and the easiest of these involve your precious computers.

It’s estimated that companies waste $1,000,000,000 dollars each year of electricity. Too often is this number dismissed, however — with business assuming that power could never truly be wasted. Computers can’t exist without currents, after all.

Choosing to simply turn off machines when they’re not in use, however, can reduce energy by up to 70 percent (resulting in countless dollars saved and power grids less strained). This also dramatically decreases the amount of carbon produced by computers — freeing the air of harmful toxins and concerns.

Corporations wishing to further their environmentalism should also consider purchasing devices that are Earth efficient: with their designs requiring less power for operations and their systems automatically shutting down when not in use for extended periods of time. This saves energy and the planet.

A green philosophy is not impossible to maintain. It simply demands little gestures from companies — with the effects of these too important to deny.

 

Filed Under: Eco Friendly Benefits, Environmental Awareness Tagged With: , ,

The Effect of Climate Change on the Economy

As climate change has reached a level that has drawn society’s attention to the need for change, it has had various effects on the economy of the country. This has been both in the tougher end and towards a more positive end as society and the world of business have had to adjust. Some industries that have been forced to make changes due to federal guidelines have felt the pinch in their bottom line, but the change, though tough now, will bring about positive results in the future. Consumers as well are starting to have to learn to live, work and use what the Earth has to offer in a much different way than we have been used in the past.

One of these changes has been to learn how to use less to accomplish daily work tasks. For instance, carpooling has now become more popular as well as the use of public transportation to save on the consumption of fossil fuels. Companies, in this case, are having to figure out new ways to transport goods from one point to another with rising fuel costs. Many retailers have started to curtail the amount of inventory that they carry down to the products that most popularly sell. This reduces what has to be shipped and raises profits in return.

New types of energy are becoming more prevalent and recycling has become more common. One area of possibility is in the realm of technology, which has allowed much of the paperwork of a business to be digitized and stored electronically. This will help to reduce the consumption of trees as long as electronic components are responsibly recycle when they run their course. Though climate change has been hard for many to adjust to, it has brought about many positive changes in our society and business world and will greatly benefit us and the environment in tandem.

Filed Under: Environmental Awareness Tagged With: ,