Beyond specific measurement of emissions, there are other steps that individuals in your organization can take right now to reduce their emissions and environmental footprints. The following useful tips were developed by Citrix, a software company, in their green guide for business.

Saving Energy

• Use energy-saving light bulbs: Energy-saving light bulbs last around 10 times longer than ordinary light bulbs, and can save you about $10 per light bulb per year in electricity? Turn off lights when they are not needed. Also, be careful of the mercury in compact flourescent light (CFLs) bulbs. CFLs must be disposed of properly. Better still, try to move to LED (light emitting diode) bulbs, which use only about 10% of the energy of standard incandescent bulbs.
• Switch to a green energy supplier
• Move into more energy-efficient premises
• Install your own ‘green energy’ systems: Install ‘green’ technologies like solar panels.
• Use energy efficient appliances such as kettles, fridges and microwaves: Look for the Energy Star appliances that are the most energy efficient in their category.
• Turn off equipment when you’re not using it: On average, in the United Kingdom for example, offices waste about $10,000 every year by leaving equipment on over weekends and holidays. Turn off monitors, printers, scanners and other equipment before you leave the office.
• Watch your thermostat: If your colleagues are walking around in t-shirts during the winter, the thermostat is likely too high.
• Water Use: Most containers for bottled water are made from non-bio-degradable plastics. Some can take hundreds of years to break down. Some offices have banned the use of them.
• Determine how reduce paper use in the workplace: Consider digital storage, using recycled paper, and using both sides of paper.
• Use the Internet: Work remotely and use the internet for meetings. Citrixonline offers software for this.
• Consider working from home to reduce gasoline use and emissions: A 30-mile commute can generate 27 pounds of carbon emissions, equivalent to a home's emissions for one day!
• Face-to-face meetings: Are good for building relationships. However, they require travel and use of fuel. Consider alternatives, such as on-line meetings, if possible.
• Consider travelling by air only when necessary: According to Citrix' guide, a return flight from London to Spain generates about 0.52 tonnes of CO2 per passenger. This is almost the same amount of CO2 that an individual creates every year when disposing of household waste
• Is your vehicle fleet as environmentally-friendly as it can be?
• Walk, bike and use public transport where possible: Mass transit causes fewer emissions per person than individual travel.
• Look for car- (or ride-) sharing arrangements in your city or town
• Keep track of travel in miles/kilometers instead of costs: Record business travel in mileage so youv can use our calculator to estimate your travel-related emissions.
• Recycle newspapers, paper, magazines and cardboard.
• Donate used computer equipment, old cell phones and other electronics or send them to recycling programs. Printer ink cartridges can also be recycled. Some charities use old equipment and cartidges to raise money!
• Make waste separation at work easy! Provide separate bins for different wastes, especially recyclables. Make sure that recycleables get to a recycling program.
• Use glass, ceramic and other multi-use, re-usable containers for drinks and food.Reuse packaging. Styofoam peanuts, bubble wrap, wrapping, boxes, etc can often be re-used.
• Consider recycled/recyclable office furniture. More and more plastics can be recycled.
• Stimulate recycling by specifying products with a recycled content.
• Use our carbon calculator. Yes, you! Or, use the links above to access other carbon estimation tools. Or, ask a colleague to do it. Some people get very excited about using calculators, and learning about emissions sources and ways to reduce them! We've seen it happen within PepsiCo and elsewhere!
• Measure your business carbon footprint and identify ways to reduce it. If needed, AtmosClear can assist with carbon footprinting or we can recommend experts with the experience you are looking for. We have long-standing experience assisting large organizations to manage the ecological and climate impacts of their operations and in their supply chains.
• When travelling, or thinking about travelling, think in terms of distance and amount of fuel to be used.

Company Policies

The above are only a few tips on how to reduce energy use and emissions. Beyond these, think about appointing someone to promote sustainable (green) actions. Developing a company policy in written form puts specific ideas and goals in front of people. Setting targets can be helpful, too. What about your suppliers? Do they have clear environmental goals? Everyone can make a difference! Involve them all...talk to your colleagues to get ideas and find out who can help. Sometimes the answers are right there!