10 Easy Ways to Go Green (and Save Some Green) At Work

One of the best things about being environmentally friendly is that it can often times save you money. Although we’d like to believe that being caring about the environment is a thoroughly altruistic notion, it certainly doesn’t hurt that increased conservation on our part can also mean decreased bills for ourselves and our employers. Here are ten easy ways to go green at work right now, including the environmental and economical benefits of each.

1. Bring your lunch to work in reusable containers rather than plastic bags or aluminum foil. Don’t forget regular silverware and reusable or recycled napkins. This cuts down on your own purchase of disposable containers, as well as your company’s waste disposal costs.

2. Ask your boss if you can telecommute to work even for one day each week to cut down on gas waste and carbon emissions. Think about it - if you’re off the road one day out of your five day work week, you’re cutting your emissions AND your gas bill by 20 percent! And your employer can save on their energy bills because your office doesn’t need to be “on.”

3. Purchase or grow office plants to offset VOCs and CO2 emissions. Plants are also shown to lighten people’s moods, which is good for productivity.

4. Use CFL or LED light bulbs and opt for natural light when possible. “Artificial lighting accounts for 44 percent of the electricity use in office buildings,” according to the Sierra Club.

5. Change the way you commute to work: opt to carpool, bike, or walk (if possible) rather than driving your car all by yourself. Fewer commuters means fewer parking lots or garages to maintain.

6. Stop it with the bottled water, already! Use a reusable water bottle or bring a regular old glass to work and fill up at the water cooler. Water coolers are much cheaper for your employer to purchase than individual water bottles.

7. Be taken off paper mailing lists from conferences, trade publications, etc... Give them a call or send them an email and ask to be removed from their mailings. If you still want to hear from them, opt for electronic delivery instead.

8. Plug all of your electronics into power strips which you can easily turn off at the end of the day. This lowers your environmental impact and your company's electricity costs.

9. Ask for a flexible schedule that allows you to commute at earlier or later times during the day. If you work from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm, you’ll miss rush-hour traffic and spend less time driving to work, which lowers your CO2 emissions (and your stress levels!). And less time spent in traffic means more time spent working.

10. Instead of traveling for meetings, whenever possible try to use video or web conferencing services instead. This is green for the environment AND your employer’s travel budget.

So, the next time you see an opportunity to make your workplace greener, step up and make it happen. If your employer wants to know what’s in it for them, you can assure them that going green at work is good for the environment and for their budget.

Brie Weiler Reynolds

Brie Weiler Reynolds is a freelance writer and the Manager of Content and Community Outreach at FlexJobs, the leading site for telecommuting and flexible job listings, where she blogs and manages social media. A college career advisor by trade, Brie writes about job search and career advice, workplace trends, personal finance, and lifestyle. She finds joy in discovering and creating useful information and resources which help others to bring order and purpose to their lives, and she is passionate about work-life balance and environmental sustainability. A native of upstate New York, Brie has lived in Boston, New Jersey, and Atlanta over the past ten years, and enjoys traveling at home and abroad.

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