If you’re looking to start a service-based business and have a mind for both energy efficiency and eco-friendliness, then near the top of your list of priorities should be securing green office space. While we’re mostly familiar with the dead giveaways when it comes to evaluating the greenness of a particular space, there are subtle indicators of a property’s green status relative to other options. If you aren’t sure what to look for when scouting for green office space, use the following as a guide:

Windows that open: A common feature of modern office environments has been the complete sealing of windows in order to better control the internal climate. But the downside to this has been the complete reliance on heating and cooling for maintaining a desirable office temperature. To avoid such a dependence, stick to office spaces that include windows that can be opened. That way you can take advantage of fresh air as much as possible.

Close proximity to public transit: For the sake of reducing the amount of fuel you and your workers will burn through for your business to exist, opt for office space near bus lines or other forms of mass transit. Go the extra mile by encouraging your workers to use these means of transportation by providing them with monthly passes.

Natural sources of light: In addition to windows that can be opened, look for windows that get a strong exposure – mainly those that face east and west. This reduces your dependence on artificial light, which will lower energy costs as well the size of your company’s carbon footprint.

Shower facilities: It may sound a little silly, but on-site showers are critical in the promotion of a green corporate culture in that they encourage employees to ride bicycles into work. If they know they won’t have to sit at their desk drenched in sweat for the first five hours, your workers are certain to choose cycling instead of driving whenever possible.

Solar paneling: This is the one feature everyone looks for when scouting for green office locales. While not the end-all-be-all of what constitutes an environmentally sound office, solar panels are important and should certainly be something you look for in your potential office space. With that said, do the math before embracing extra rent on account of an office being solar powered. It’s good for Mother Nature in any case, but it may not always be optimum for your wallet.

A green (or white) roof: This one is a bit fun to do since it requires some spying via Google Maps. When you get the address of a potential spot, plug it into Google Maps and zoom in to get a glimpse as to whether or not green roofing materials were used. A “green” roof, while most commonly appearing white, is one of the easiest ways to reduce energy usage in a large complex. If the owners of an office building haven’t taken this step, you can safely say it isn’t the location that’s right for you.

When looking for green office space to place your new company, don’t just settle on whatever a realtor wants to tell you or give into charming copy. Go to these locations and see for yourself whether or not they’re “up to code” as far as going green is concerned. That way you can be assured that your efforts to create an eco-friendly business are not in vain.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Six Things to Look for When Scouting for Green Office Space

Most of us make an effort to be eco-friendly at home—recycling, not wasting water, and getting rid of toxic cleaners are all pretty well known ways to go green. But what you might not have considered is that there are opportunities to be just as eco-friendly at work as you are at home.

Fortunately, there are lots of ways to make businesses more eco-friendly. Take these tips back to work with you and implement them in your office to help make a lighter impact on our environment!

1. Go Digital – Printing wastes paper, so try to do so as little as possible. Send documents via email instead of using hard copies—there are even programs that let you sign documents online so you don’t have to print them out.

2. Recycle Old Carpet and Flooring – If you or your company are planning on remodeling your office, consider participating in the Carpet America Recovery Effort (C.A.R.E.). C.A.R.E. aims to reduce landfill waste by providing recycling and reuse options for removed carpet and padding. Every 10 million pounds of recycled carpet saves 50,000 yards of landfill space, which helps to
decrease dangerous toxic emissions.

Empire Today is one of multiple retailers that offer to recycle old carpet and flooring after new installations, making it easy for your business to contribute to a cleaner environment while enjoying fresh new flooring.

3. Choose Green Products – Another environmentally friendly remodeling option is to choose sustainable materials for new floors and windows. Empire Flooring offers natural, eco-friendly floor materials like bamboo and cork. Both bamboo and cork are renewable and recyclable, and no trees are harmed in manufacturing cork. Empire Today also provides energy efficient window treatments that reduce harmful UV rays and ensure healthy air quality.

4. Unplug Everything – You stop using the things in your office as soon as you leave for the day, so why should they stay plugged in all night? Before you go home, shut down computers, unplug printers, and turn off lights to save energy. Using one power strip for multiple appliances makes it even easier to unplug at the end of the day.

5. Get a Plant – Putting a plant in the office increases air circulation, decreases air toxins, and helps reduce eye irritation from staring at a computer screen for hours at a time. Plus, it can make your office feel a little more like home!

Just because you don’t live in your office (hopefully!) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look for the same opportunities to go green as you do at home. Making environmentally conscious business decisions, especially with big projects like remodeling, can have huge impacts on clearing out landfills and creating a greener, cleaner world.

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Eco-Friendly Flooring Options for the Office

Going green isn’t exactly easy to do by your lonesome. Few of us are experts in the fields of energy innovation, nor do we have the skills to assess our individual circumstances and lifestyles and come to practical conclusions about how to save energy. Sure we can make the switch to CFLs, carpool three days out of the week, and properly insulate our homes, but in many cases the biggest contributors to our carbon footprint are ignored in favor of these more apparent and easier issue to tackle. The result is a whole lot of good intentions that unfortunately do not equate to a whole lot of difference being made.

In order to get the right idea about your own carbon footprint and ways to lessen its size, take advantage of resources available to you online. In particular, utilize the following four calculators that can make it easier to determine how to go about leading a greener life:

Household Emissions Calculator: This handy tool provided by the Environmental Protection Agency estimates your household emissions based on the data you enter and provides you with possible solutions to lower these levels. It breaks it down in both a dollars perspective and an emissions perspective, which comes handy for those who can’t help but calculate the cost benefits of green living.

Fuel Economy Calculator: Choosing the most fuel efficient vehicle you can afford is easier than using Anywho’s reverse phone number finder thanks to the fuel economy calculator provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. Every car is cataloged, from the ’57 Chevy to the 2012 Toyota Prius. Say goodbye to the days of the gas guzzler!

Home Energy Saver Calculator: Utilizing a whole range of data from your zip code to the age of your home to the price of your current kilowatt hour of electricity, the Home Energy Saver Calculator gives you a concise formula for ways to save on energy. As user Nick Wilder said: “It is one government service that makes paying taxes worthwhile.”

Carbon Footprint Calculator: The only one not available through a government agency, this incredibly detailed service featured on the Nature Conservancy website calculates your entire carbon footprint. In addition to such specifics as estimated air travel, the Carbon Footprint Calculator also factors in your dietary habits, an often overlooked aspect of our impact on the environment.

You don’t have to attempt going green alone. In fact it’s probably in both your best interest and the best interest of the planet if you don’t. Take advantage of all the free information that exists online, but particularly the useful eco-friendly calculators that make going green a lot easier and a lot more effective.

Alex S. is a freelance writer who has a passion for being eco-friendly, in addition enjoys learning about business and technology.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Use Online Calculators to Reduce Emissions and Save Energy

More and more small businesses appear to be placing a greater emphasis on taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint by implementing a series of significant changes, ranging from teleconferencing to cycle-to-work schemes.

What’s more, some of the changes can also saves companies money and improve productivity and morale among the work force.

What are these changes? Here are a few suggestions:

Conference calls

Teleconferencing is cheap, easy to use, convenient and some conference call providers even offer free conference calls. No longer do employees have to spend hours travelling either by air, rail or road to attend meetings that can be just as effectively carried out over the phone or via a video conference or webinar. As well as cost and environmental benefits, teleconferencing also means staff spend less time away from their desk.

Work remotely

Allowing staff to work from home either once or twice or week or on a more long-term basis means a company’s workforce aren’t commuting to and from the office. With the cost of office space and rent a financial burden, this method can free up funds that could instead be pumped back into the business. And, as an added bonus, having a ‘work at home Wednesday’ or whatever you want to call it may even improve productivity and morale from the staff as they feel more trusted.

Promote carpooling

Encourage the workforce to lift share to and from work and to any other events they may be attending together. Perhaps try and incentivise the scheme with small cash bonuses or free breakfasts or something like that just to help it get up and running.

Recycle in the workplace

Starting recycling and reusing whatever you can if you don’t already at work. Become a more responsible business by reducing wastage and recycling everything from packaging to computer components.

Turn down the central heating/air conditioning

You’d be amazed at what a difference turning down the central heating unit or air conditioning by a few degrees can have in terms of reducing utility bills and the amount of energy used to keep the office warm in the winter months and cool in summer. Also remember to turn off the heating unit or air con completely when the office is not in use as well as all electrical appliances and lights.

Introduce a cycle-to-work scheme

Look into the possibility of implementing a cycle-to-work scheme in the same way that you should promote carpooling among staff. In countries like the UK, these schemes involve allowing workers to buy tax-free bikes for up to 40% less than they retail for. If similar schemes are not applicable to your area then maybe offer money-off vouchers to encourage people to cycle to work.

Featured post submitted by Powwownow

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Reduce the carbon footprint of your small business

Saving the environment is enough of a pleasure to keep us switching lights off and putting less water in the kettle, but there is another great reason that many people seem to either miss or ignore: money. The onus is rightly put on saving the only rock we have to live on, but there is more money to be saved than many people realize – and that’s enough reason to get more people on the green eco-wagon, is it not?

More and more offices are taking steps to cut back on energy consumption these days, but saving the planet doesn’t stop there – you can save a bunch of cash on your gas prices and electricity prices at home, too. In fact, many of the same things you do in the office to save energy can be done at home to save you money at the same time.

The same old limited lights usage applies: turning all lights off when you leave a room can save you more than you might imagine over the course of a year. Only filling the kettle as much as you need to has the same effect.

Turning to the kitchen, there is plenty of money to be saved on all household appliances. Take the oven, for example. There may not be much room for movement on the temperatures at which you cook certain foods, but even just shaving five minutes off the time that you preheat it for will save you a few bucks. You most likely won’t notice the savings immediately, but for every bill you get, the more dollars you’ll keep in your back pocket.

Tumble dryers are notorious energy guzzlers, so the more you can dry your washing outdoors, the better. Weather will obviously dictate how often you can do this, but jump at it whenever you get the chance. With appliances like toasters, microwaves and televisions, it saves the cents when you switch them all off at the wall when you’re done using them.

Using electrical appliances less is beneficial not only to the environment and your wallet, but it also significantly reduces risk in and around your household. What’s more, the fewer risks you have in your home, the lower your home insurance quote will be, so you’ll save even more money.

Some people find it somewhat inconvenient to put all of these things into practice at home as well as at the office, but they really are good habits to get into. Six months down the line, you’ll really start to notice the difference!

Guest post submitted by Joseph Griffiths on behalf of Money SuperMarket.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Saving Money As Well As The Environment

It should not take a large outlay of money in order to take your business from consuming more energy to one that is eco-friendly. As a matter of fact, once you have worked out all the details, you can actually raise your businesses profit margins. Just by adopting small, simple measures, any size organization can help their business to go “Green.”

• Reduce paper use: Let everyone in your organization know that they should not be photocopying or printing documents when it is unnecessary to do so. When you are going to be printing, eliminate waste by ensuring that paper is properly aligned, toner is sufficient for the job, and the quality is properly set.
• Reuse paper: Print on both sides of paper, and use scraps for notes and messages.
• Send used paper to recyclers: After paper has been used as scratch pads and on both sides, send it to be recycled. This will help to save the environment as well as reduce costs.
• Use paper that is recycled.
• Buy refurbished furniture: By purchasing used office furniture you will be reusing resources rather than contributing the depletion of our woodland.
• When finished using equipment, switch it off: For instance, each time you turn your PC off, also turn off any peripheral equipment that is attached to it.
• Set up recycle bins: Since you are going to be going “green” it is time to set up waste receptacles for separating the different type of waste that is generated. This can be done for glass, plastic, metal, as well as paper. Assign someone to take them to the local recycling unit when they are full.
• Switch to energy efficient products when possible: Replace incandescent and fluorescent lights with the newer high efficiency lights to save on lighting costs. Since laptops consume less energy when compared to ordinary desktop models, consider switching to laptops when it is time to upgrade your computer. Replacing CRTs with flat panel displays in another measure that you can use to reduce the amount of energy you use as well as take up less space on your desk.
• Use green technology based products: Manufacturers that use less energy in the production of their products should be sought out as you attempt to go “green.” There are any number of different companies that are doing everything they can to reduce the impact they are having on the environment.
• Remember to conserve and recycle water as you can: This can be done by setting up drinking stations that allow the use of a reusable cup rather than a paper one, and do not rely on running water as a fountain would. Place a filled container in toilet tanks to prevent overuse of water, or switch to low flow tanks.
• Use eco-friendly and bio-degradable packaging: When packaging your products for sale, make sure that you are using materials that will degrade when tossed into landfills, and use less packaging that is sure to reduce the amount of waste that is produced from your business.

Guest post written by Mirsad Hasic of Alternative Energy Geek.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

10 Simple Steps To Make Your Business More Green

If you are an eco-savvy individual who is aware of the importance of the “go green” efforts to sustain the environment, you might question whether or not you can maintain a green lifestyle while dining out on the town. Well, with these tips it is easy to enjoy a meal at a restaurant while saving the planet at the same time.

Carefully choose a restaurant. Before you head out to eat, it doesn’t hurt to do a little light research. Check online to see if you have any certified green restaurants in your neighborhood. Or you can always eat at a restaurant that you know uses locally grown food and strives for organic vegetables and pasteurized meat.

• Restaurants certified by the Green Restaurant Association™ (GRA). The Green Restaurant Association™ is a non-profit organization that contributes efforts to helping restaurants become more environmentally conscious. A restaurant certified by the GRA has made a promise to help the planet by making at least four improvements each year. Restaurants who are certified green receive points on seven different items: chemical and pollution reduction, water efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, sustainable furnishings and building materials, sustainable food, and energy and disposables. You can check out the GRA’s website for a list of certified restaurants in your town.
• Restaurants using their own local ingredients. These restaurants may not be certified by the GRA, but if they are using locally grown foods, they are most certainly doing their part in reducing their carbon footprint. Be sure to study the menu and ask your server what dishes use local ingredients.
• Some top picks: Eateries such as Starbucks, Chipotle, and Jamba Juice are all famous for their green efforts in reducing waste by using recycled materials in their disposable products, using less disposable products, encouraging their customers to switch to reusable containers, and implementing electricity reduction plans.

How will you get to the restaurant? When going out to eat, consider a venue that isn’t too far away…this way you can enjoy a pleasant stroll or bike ride and leave the keys behind. If a restaurant close to your home or work is not an option, carpool with friends or arrive at your destination by public transit.

Avoid the drive-thru. If you do happen to drive, it is best to steer clear of the drive-thru. Not only will you run your car in the line, wasting gas and emitting harmful fumes, but these establishments are also known to waste extra products that you don’t need or want such as napkins, plastic utensils and even the bag itself.

Drink green. An easy step in dining green is to be mindful of what you put in your cup (and what kind of cup you are using at that!).

• Order filtered tap water.
• Bring your own bottle, cup or coffee mug when enjoying a drink at a restaurant that would otherwise have served your drink by disposable means.
• If you decide to kick back with an alcoholic beverage, opt for one that is produced locally or at least domestically.

Don’t let your eyes get bigger than your stomach. When dining out, be sure to only order what you will eat. This is an important lesson regarding waste, and one that we should be teaching our children. If you know the portions at a restaurant are huge, consider splitting a dish with your dining partner. This same rule of thumb should especially be kept in mind when eating at a buffet, where the amount of wasted food is enough to feed a small country. Remember, you can always order more if you find that
your hunger is still unsatisfied.

Bring your own containers. If you should happen to have some food left over from your meal, don’t let it get thrown out! Bring along your own re-usable containers to take your leftovers home with you. Although the waiter might give you a funny look, just think about the amount of Styrofoam you will be eliminating from landfills across the globe.

Written by Amy Reynolds on behalf of Best Free Dating Sites.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

How to be Green When Dining Out

Eco-ski destinations and resorts provide a greener alternative for skiing and other recreational and sports enthusiasts. Private hotels and lodges are now incorporating green and environmentally friendly initiatives in their building and design practices and day-to-day operations as a way of contributing to the preservation of their local environment. Listed below are just some of the best eco-friendly global destinations for skiing and other recreational activities. You can get great late ski deals online so grab a bargain and see you on the slopes.

Nipika Mountain Resort, British Columbia, Canadacaaa

Nestled high in the Canadian Rockies is the Nipika Mountain Resort, a self-sufficient and sustainable accommodation property. Its proximity to the Canadian Rockies makes it an ideal lodging option for skiing enthusiasts. Nipika Mountain Resort is completely off-grid, all cabins and rooms are powered by natural solar and wind sources. Cabin building materials and furniture in Nipika are made from dead wood procured from the surrounding forests.

Hotel Terra, Jackson Hole, U.S.A.

Located near the Jackson Hole Mountain Ski Resort and the Grand Teton National Park, Hotel Terra Jackson is a LEED certified hotel that integrates eco-friendly components in its architecture, design, operations, and energy utilization practices. Energy for the hotel is produced from green sources like solar, wind, and hydropower. Even the toiletries, beds and bedding ensembles are made from organic and natural materials. Recycling is highly encouraged and practiced in the hotel main rooms and guest rooms.

Aravis Lodge, La Clusaz, France

Aravis Lodge is one of the best eco-ski accommodation properties in St. Jean De Sixt near the La Clusaz ski commune in the French Alps. The Aravis Lodge is situated in a century-old chalet with 17 bedrooms and comfortable guest amenities like sauna and massage facilities.
The hotel incorporates an impressive array of eco-friendly practices including utilization of solar energy to produce heat and hot water. Even the in-house restaurant incorporates sustainable practices and uses free range local produce and free trade products in their menu.

Going green isn’t restricted to the house and office, by far. Choosing eco-minded destinations such as these Ski Resort options or Eco-Spa Resorts can make your green efforts even more enjoyable! Have fun!

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3 Fantastic Eco Ski Destinations

As the shift to a greater ecological consciousness continues out of the necessity of long term survival, you might be wondering just what it is that you can do to help out the effort. Here are a few things to get you started on reforming your life in tune with the balanced harmony of our planet.

Garden

The first thing that you can do is plant a garden. By growing your own food, you cut down on the energy required for transportation. This eliminates the need for petrochemicals to be created in order to be sprayed as fertilizers. Best of all, you get to eat fresh, organic food and gain the satisfaction of knowing that you have the ability to feed yourself.

Washing Machine

The second thing that you can do is upgrade your washing machines. Consider buying an energy efficient washing machine if your old one uses up too much water or too much energy during the washing process. Top manufactures such as Beko washing machines make some fantastic energy saving machines now so it’s a great time to get a new far more eco-friendly washing machine.

Use cold water or a cool wash with your washing machine. Heating water during a wash cycle uses up a lot of electricity. Since electricity is overwhelmingly created by burning fossil fuels, this also cuts down on the carbon emissions being released. With modern eco laundry soaps hot wash cycles are a thing of the past.

Get Bargains

To get great bargains and help the earth a good thing that you can do is stop buying new when you can get “new to you”. Check out Craigslist, Freecyle, or your local thrift store to find quality used goods for a fraction of the price of new things. This prevents resources from being used to create new items and extends the life of ones that already exist.

Bulbs

An illuminating idea to be greener is to swap out your old incandescent light bulbs for CFLs. This decreases the energy which is used to power the lights that brighten your life. Although it is a small step, many small steps are necessary in a journey of a thousand miles.

Power Down

An important step to become slightly more ecologically friendly is to turn off your computer whenever you aren’t using it. This saves electricity and it saves you money. This is yet another example where helping the planet can also help you.

Thermostat

You need to make sure you lower your thermostat in winter and increase it in summer. A difference of a few degrees can vastly lower your electricity costs. Plus, it means less coal and natural gas needs to be burned in order to provide you with unnecessary levels of comfort. This also lowers the amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants floating around in the atmosphere, contributing to the severity and speed at which our shared climate is changing drastically.

Home Office

When you work from home, not only do you eliminate the commute to and from work, but there is an immense amount you can do to make sure you are working green. Use recycled copy paper, for web work use a green web hosting company that uses eco-friendly ways to power the servers, don’t print unless you have to and print double sided if you can. Check out these eco office articles for more ideas such as this one on cutting out plastic in the office.

There are many other things that you can do to cut down on your environmental impact. To get more ecologically preferable ideas look around on blogs like treehugger.com, and thedailygreen.com to help you on your path towards a more sustainable life for yourself, our planetary habitat, and future generations.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

7 Ways to Be More Eco-Friendly at Home 2011

Many people are beginning to practice eco-friendliness within their home and working lives which is a positive step in the bid to reduce carbon emissions, however one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions haven’t quite been tackled – transport. The commute to and from work is significantly affecting climate change. Traffic congestion means journey times are longer than usual
in rush hour, resulting in more fuel consumption and consequently more carbon emissions which are proven to contribute to global warming and have effects on human health. Using alternative methods to travel to work can greatly reduce carbon emissions, travel expenses and even commute time.

Traditional Tactics

If you live within a reasonable distance you are blessed with the ability to leave your car at home and save abundances on fuel. Walking or cycling to work can be enjoyable in the summertime and great exercise, particularly for office workers who are generally seated for the duration of the day. Although you may not want to leave your car at home every day, if the weather looks sunny and you have a burst of energy why not choose to walk? With fuel prices constantly rocketing, choosing to walk or cycle can be incredibly attractive due to the money saving aspects.

Car Sharing

If you live a greater distance, walking or cycling may not be a practical option of getting to work. Rather than jumping straight behind the wheel, ask colleagues in the office to see if anyone lives nearby and ask if they want to start car sharing. If you and a colleague share a car to work you could half your fuel costs, mileage and carbon emissions. Alternating days of who drives can also reduce the stresses of driving each morning.

Public Transport

If no one from the office lives within your area you could consider public transport as an option. Initially this may sound unattractive, but often urban areas have convenient transport links. Considering monthly passes can also save you some money on public transport, in some cases it may actually be cheaper than the costs of running a car and far less stressful. Using public transport minimizesthe number of cars on the roads, reducing congestion and carbon emissions.

Green Cars

Hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular due to their financial and environmental benefits. They combine clean electrical energy with a gas powered engine, making them a cleaner and more fuel efficient method of transport. Their fuel consumption is lower than that of an average car, saving you money on fuel.

Work from Home

Although working from home isn’t always possible, if you live quite a distance from your work you could ask your manager if working from home a few days a week would be acceptable. This could save you significant amounts of money and drastically reduce your carbon emissions. It could also benefit your company money and productivity too if you offered to work the hours which you would usually spend commuting.

Eco-friendliness isn’t only saving the environment, it’s also saving many office workers money. It’s proven that greener alternatives to transport are cost effective. So why not leave the car on the drive for a well deserved rest?

Written by Stephanie Staszko on behalf of Just Motor Law.

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5 Green Ways to Travel to Work