Reduce Your Costs and Energy Consumption at the Office
You can’t escape the green movement that is pushing you to reduce your electricity consumption. By the way we support the move to reduce energy consumption and natural resources. The best thing you can do for yourself and your bottom line is embrace it. The good news is that there is a lot of significant money saving benefits to be had by reducing your power and resource consumption. The specific are detailed below:
Tip 1: Ensure you have an “actual” reading: This is a really big one, especially if you have just moved to a new office where you may be paying the same rate as the previous tenants. Ring up your provider and find out what type of reading you are getting.
Tip 2: Set your computers to energy-saving “sleep” mode: This means that they shut down after you haven’t used them for a certain amount of time (eg five minutes). Over the course of the year this can lead to quite a significant reduction in electricity usage.
Tip 3: Set your printer to energy-saving mode: If you have a large printer and copier then set it to the “energy saving” mode. This way if you are not printing for four or five hours then you are not wasting money on electricity.
Tip 4: Place a “green signature” on your emails: Encourage staff members to not print all of their emails by placing a green signature on the bottom of all emails you send out. If you have to print an email then only print the page that you need.
Tip 5: Cut back on supplies: A great way to start is to set up a central supply section. Have a table in the office with a hole punch (make it a good one), a few staplers (different sizes) and some binding equipment etc. This way the office doesn’t have to buy individual items for each staff member. It will also help to encourage exercise and communication. But not too much communication! The office spy would be a good one to monitor this one!!!
Tip 6: Don’t use paper cups: Paper cups are a waste of money and damaging to the environment as well. Encourage staff to bring in their own cups or have some cups made up with the business logo on them.
Tip 7: Don’t use individual plastic bottles: As with the above tip, they waste money and aren’t good for the environment. Glasses of water (from a larger water dispenser) should do just fine.
Tip 8: Consider entering into a green lease: With a traditional lease there is generally not much consideration of electricity, it may either be included, or a set price is paid. With a green lease the tenant and land lord can work proactively together to reduce electricity consumption and the amount that they pay.
Tip 9: Minimize the use of hand towels: Encourage employees to reduce the number of paper hand towels that they use. You can start by buying slightly less supplies.
Tip 10: Use timers and dimmers in your office: In the right environment these should help you cut electricity costs quite dramatically.
