With more people working from home to promote physical distancing during the COVID pandemic, it’s more important than ever to create sustainable home office practices. Working from home has long been championed as an excellent way to decrease carbon footprints and our curiosity led us to examine our own home offices’ impact on the environment. Take a look at the ways you can make positive changes to your own home office by implementing the following tips!
Energy
Maintain your thermostat at 68 degrees in winter and 78 degrees in summer during waking hours. During sleep, a decrease of 7 - 10 degrees can significantly save in energy costs.
Decrease energy use by installing power strips. When devices, such as cell phone chargers, stay plugged in but aren’t in use, they continue to utilize energy and increase your bill.
Make the switch to LED lights which use 25% - 80% less energy than traditional lightbulbs.
Technology
Buy refurbished equipment to keep electronics out of landfills and save money. Most major manufacturers and retailers offer a refurbished option
Embrace the paperless movement and scan files into your computer. Then shred and recycle the documents to keep your office paper-free. To set up a mini recycling center, follow our tips here {LINK}
Office Supplies
Start using a staple-less stapler, an innovative way to reduce your reliance on staples, paper clips, and rubber bands.
Seek out products made with recycled content such as Bottle to Pen made from 83% recycled materials
There you have it, a few small changes to help make a bigger impact on our carbon footprint. What ways have you made your home office more environmentally friendly? Share your tips at #elyngreenoffice
Photo by Paige Cody