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Tips for Greening Your Organization

Want to learn more about what you can do to reduce the "climate footprint" of your organization? We have tips...

How Can You Green Your Office?

You can make a difference through your office practices! Computers, printers, copiers, space heating and cooling, lighting, paper, employee travel and commuting all contribute to global warming.

These are all areas where your office, no matter how small, can make significant changes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy while protecting the environment and, in many cases, saving money.

In order to have a green office, there are a few steps you can follow to guide you through an efficient and productive process.

1. Calculate your carbon footprint
2. Create a green team to guide the process internally
3. Educate and inform (internal)
4. Create recommendations
5. Offset what is leftover

1) Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

The World Resources Institute (WRI), an international environmental think tank based in Washington, D.C., published a report in 2002 entitled “Working 9 to 5 on Climate Change: An Office Guide.” Drawing on experiences learned in measuring its own carbon emissions since 1999, WRI designed a thorough document to guide office-based (i.e., no manufacturing activities) organizations in a review of carbon dioxide emissions.  In conjunction with this written guide, WRI crafted freely downloadable Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to enable users to maneuver through the process, accounting for emissions from the following:

A) Energy Usage (direct emissions if any)

B) Electricity Usage

C) Employee Travel

D) Employee Commute

• Supplemental Survey for Employee Commute

The spreadsheets require the input of the collected consumption data and automatically run embedded calculations to yield a representation of carbon emissions.  The calculator limits its analysis to emissions of carbon dioxide, the dominant but by no means only greenhouse gas emitted (CO2 constitutes over 80% of greenhouse gases annually emitted).  The tool is comprised of four separate spreadsheets, each of which calculates a component of the carbon footprint.  These component pieces – direct emissions, indirect emissions, business travel, and commuting – can be summed to determine the organization’s total carbon footprint, as measured by tons of carbon dioxide.  This resource, refined and updated periodically, has emerged as the credible standard for office-based organizational carbon footprint analyses.

The WRI spreadsheets are not presently designed to account for paper consumption. Please use the tool below for that:

E) Paper Usage

Environmental Defense, drawing its background information and assumptions from the work of the Paper Task Force, has created a basic Paper Calculator that is noteworthy for its ability to take an exceedingly complicated issue and provide a reasonable estimate of its environmental impact. This tool is designed to provide a life-cycle analysis of the environmental impact – including greenhouse gas emissions – of paper.  For virgin paper, the calculator estimates the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the entire process from the initial production of the paper from wood to its disposal in landfills and incinerators.  Pre-consumer recycled content is subjected to this same assumption of disposal method.  For post-consumer recycled content, the estimates for greenhouse gas emissions stem from a review of the energy consumption in the paper production from the recovered material through the recovery and processing system for recycling. 

Want more?
The Kendall Foundation has created a document about how they calculated their carbon footprint and are working to become carbon neutral.

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2) Green Team

In order to move the process forward in your organization, a green team should be formed to facilitate the process and create buy-in from all employees.

When creating a team, try to have staff member present from each department. If your organization is small enough to exclude departments, make sure you include, those in charge of the following tasks:

• Purchasing
• Paying bills on energy, waste and utilities
• Maintenance
• Information Technology

Pick a consistent day and time you can meet once a month and stick to it.

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3) Educate and Inform

Begin the process with your green team with a presentation and introduction into the process.

Below are 2 types of presentations you can download to help facilitate this.

• What Can I Do?
• Global Warming 101

If you need more assistance wit the science of global warming, or creating global warming slides relevant to your geographic location, contact our Community Program Manager, Christa Koehler for assistance at ckoehler@cleanair-coolplanet.org.

After the initial presentation, it is important to share the results of the calculations for everyone to see. These calculations will also alert you to where your organization may need more attention. After analyzing the results, your team can move forward with making recommendations to reduce energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

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4) Recommendations

In order to make a difference, it is important for your green team to create recommendations on how to move forward.

The following are suggestions that you can use to create your own office plan:

Energy

1. Replace old inefficient boilers and furnaces with newer energy efficient ones.
   
   
2. Replace all incandescent lighting with compact fluorescents. Participate in the yearly Change a Light Campaign administered by the EPA.
   
   
3. Purchase only Energy Star office equipment.
   
   
4. Set all computers to sleep mode or to turn off. Do not use screen savers as a replacement.
   
   
5. Set your thermostat 1-2 degrees lower in the winter and higher in the summer.
   
   
6. Assign a team or someone to ensure that at the end of the day all lights and computers are off.
   
   
7. Reward departments that reduce energy usage with a free pizza lunch, personal day, dress down day.
   
   
8. Consider installing solar panels, geothermal system, or a small wind turbine for energy.

Transportation

1. Make sure the office has bike racks for employees to use.
   
   
2. Create a fee for parking spaces.
   
   
3. Reward car poolers with close parking.
   
   
4. Offer public transportation costs for employees taking public transportation.
   
   
5. Consider implementing a policy to allow certain staff to work from home.
   Start out by doing some research as to what positions would be efficient and allowable to work from home.
   
   
6. Purchase hybrid cars for pool cars.

Waste

1. Purchase 100% recycled paper.
   
   
2. Start a composting bin in the kitchen.
   
   
3. Do not use any plastic utensils or paper plates, have reusable utensils and dishes available in the kitchen.
   
   
4. Wherever there is a garbage basket, place a recycling container.
   
   
5. Do not print out copies to edit or proof. Create an office policy mandating the usage of the electronic red pen through word processing software.
   
6. Eliminate your name on this list to reduce junk mail.
   
   
7. Use the front and backs of paper when copying, faxing or printing.

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5) Offsets

Now it is time to offset what you absolutely can not eliminate.

There are a few organizations out there that can help you offset your remaining emissions.

Clean Air-Cool Planet also has a report to help consumers choose an offset provider. Download our "Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers."

Clean Air-Cool Planet has consistently chosen NativeEnergy as a partner for offsets because of the new renewable energy projects that are created as a result of purchased offsets.