Action Plan Online, Part 6 of 10

What’s on Your Desk?
By sheer bulk and number, computers may be one of the most environmentally detrimental devices in your office. But apply a useful old adage – reduce, reuse and recycle – and you can extend the life of your office computers and save money at the same time.

REDUCE the number of computers while saving a bucketful of money. Userful, a Calgary-based company, offers a web service that takes a single desktop computer and uses it to power up to 10 monitors and associated paraphernalia – keyboards, mice, etc. So each employee still has a workstation, but only one computer is consuming energy.

REUSE old technology you once thought was obsolete. There’s a saying about computers – by the time the technology hits the market, it is already obsolete. But if you store more files on a network or server, you won’t need as much local computing power. Software, like that provided from Google Docs, allows you to store your word processing and spreadsheets online and can be accessed by any computer with internet access. Citrix Systems Inc. also offers desktop virtualization software. In fact, with a product called Citrix Reciever, an iPhone can access any windows application, becoming, in essence, a mini-computer – one that is far cheaper and just as powerful.

RECYCLE – but less often than you think. If you think a good recycling program gives you licence to produce more waste – print more often, buy more computers – think again. “Reduce” is at the top of the list for a reason. “It takes 10-times more energy to make a piece of paper than it does to print on it,” says Jean-Paul Desmarais, the Enterprise Marketing Manager for HP Canada. No matter how diligently you recycle, in the end, the less you use, the better. When it is time to retire your electronics, go to albertarecycling.ca. They’ll even pick up tired electronics directly from your office.

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Action Plan in Print, Part 6 of 10: Save Money While You Save the Environment
When the cost of oil dropped to less than half its record height, a few naysayers said that people’s concern for the environment dropped with it. After all, who’s worried about going green when they’re worried about the greenback? But more often than not, going green means reducing consumption – and cost. In October, Alberta’s Ministry of Environment will make the switch to online timesheets. With 20,000 employees, that single change will save 1,200 pounds of paper a year and 600 cubic feet of storage space. Whether you have 20,000 employees or two, here are a few other ways to save money while you save the environment. More >

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