How To Green Your Office

Greening Up Your Office

First Published Date: June 25, 2010

When you want to go green, you often look at how you can go green within your own home. However, we spend eight hours a day at the office, so it is important that you also look at greening your own office. There are many ways that you can do this, but here are the easiest that will not only save the environment, but save your office money as well.

1.    When computers, copiers, printers and other equipment are not being used, make sure they are turned off. Over the weekend, be sure to unplug things that are not being used because that will save you even more money. At the very least, ensure your electronic devices go to standby so they use much less power.

2.    Whenever you use paper, recycle it. This is one of the easiest things for a company to do and all it involves is putting out a recycle bin near where people will use it. It is very easy to do it and it will save the environment a lot of wasted paper.

3.    You should buy 100 per cent recycled paper, refillable ink cartridges, non-toxic highlighters and more in your office. Environmentally friendly office products are cost-effective and very good for the environment.

4.    Look at the possibility of telecommuting. Many companies are now allowing their workers to telecommute because it can save them money. This generally means that you work from home so that you do not have to drive to work. This increases the amount of time a worker is available, and it also cuts down on car pollution.

5.    In the office, encourage car-pooling, public transit use, as well as walking and biking to work. It is a good way to help your employees get to know each other, get exercise and help the environment at the same time.

6.    Don’t print off your e-mails unless you absolutely need to. Often, we have copies of e-mails printed off and on the computer and there is no reason for this. Just keep e-mails backed up on the computer and ask others that they don’t print off the e-mails you send them.

7.    When you have coffee and food in the office, promote buying local and organic food. You can do the same with coffee by buying organic and fair-trade coffee within the office. You should also ask that employees bring their own mugs so that disposable coffee containers are not being used within the office.

There are many things that you can do in the office if you want to save money and the environment. The ones mentioned here are just the easier ones and the ones that you can do right now without a lot of cost. Other things you can do include putting in skylights that you can use to bring in more natural sunlight, changing the heating system within the building and more. The office is a great place to go green when you know how to go about it

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on June 25, 2010.

How To Reduce Fossil Fuel Consumption

Energy deficit – Sun to our rescue

First Published Date: November 6, 2014

What is it that is so abundantly available on our planet, something that is filled with heat and energy? The answer is solar power or the rays of the sun touching our planet which only seems to be growing in intensity and heating up our planet further. When one speaks about using solar energy the first thing that pops to the mind is huge investment required in putting up solar panels.

The truth is not all utilization of solar power requires investment. There are many methods in which solar energy can be used without spending any money. Some of them in fact are quite primitive but have been lost in this fast paced lifestyle.

When building your home, position your windows such that you make maximum use of sun’s rays entering your home. This will be especially useful in winter season and by doing this you can drastically reduce your electricity expense required for heating rooms. To avoid the entry of heat in summer time, you can either grow a big tree (most trees will shed leaves in winter and thus not obstruct the winter sun) or put up an awning. The great news is over 10000 American homes are powered entirely by solar energy and over 200,000 American homes utilize photovoltaic solar energy in some way or the other. Some of the developments during construction level include installing solar roof shingles, opaque glass PV facades etc.

Sun dry your clothes as much as possible. This is not only healthy but also saves on your electricity bill. With minimal investment you can install solar systems in your home that will help you heat water or power your lights and fans. While the initial investment may seem a little on the higher side the amount you save annually on your energy bills will more than make up for the initial investment. Not to mention the pride you get for having contributed your bit to saving planet earth

These are of course primitive ways of using solar energy. In the modern day solar energy is converted to storable energy through photovoltaic cells and this energy is used to light up the home at night. There is also the solar pool heating systems that helps eliminate heating expense in swimming pools and also extends the season of swimming benefiting the pool owners in many ways.

Apart from producing energy to meet their own needs Americans can also benefit from the “net metering”. When you install solar system in your residence and have excess energy produced that you do not find any use for, you can sell it back to the utility company and actually earn money.

We all need to contribute our might to save fossil fuel and instead of passing the buck, if every individual could take up the onus of doing their bit, a lot could be save not just in hard currency but in many other green ways.

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card or TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card?

Aeroplan Visa Infinite and First Class Visa Infinite

First Published Date: April 27, 2014

Since TD started offering the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card, it started head-to-head competition with TD’s own TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card. Both of these are fee-based premium cards offering Aeroplan Miles and TD Points with identical features and perks, and that raised the confusion of which one is better (or worse) in terms of giving more value for your money.

I have tried to find out some simple differences that would make it easier to choose the right card (except the obvious different types of reward points) going through the TD website, but I had no luck. So I took a simple approach to solve this problem – by walking into a TD branch and talking to a branch manager. Surprisingly enough, she was able to decipher the whole confusion in a simple way and that’s what I was looking for.

Here are some simple but effective tips she gave to choose the right cards (and these are what makes these two cards different than each other):

TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card

It’s good when you want to use your points for booking flights only. It’s not good when you want to book anything else such as vacations, hotels, etc. Points accumulate faster for flights than TD reward cards.

TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite Card

It gives more value when you use your points to book vacations, hotels, car rentals, or to redeem for rewards. You can use it to book flights as well, but for the sole purpose of booking flights only, Aeroplan is a better option.

As I prefer to use a premium card for various reasons, and not just booking flights only, my own preference is not an Aeroplan credit card. Also, the TD manager I was talking to pointed out that she would stick to her TD First Class Visa Infinite card.

The Copenhagen December 2009 Environmental Summit

Copenhagen – Get Your Pessimism In Early

First Published Date: Oct 24, 2009

In December this year, the Danish capital Copenhagen will play host to the most important environmental summit of the past decade, and the most intensely-awaited since the Kyoto summit of 1997. Kyoto has come in the eyes of many to symbolise the greatest missed opportunity to turn back the tides of environmental damage, as the protocol set down in the agreement which was signed at the end of the summit have failed to be adopted by some of its signatories, and even those who have adopted them have as yet failed to make all of the required adjustments. The hope is that Copenhagen will see the attending administrations make good on the essential failures of Kyoto – but already there is doubt as to how likely that is.

The signs are not good, if you believe the sounds being made after US President Barack Obama spoke at the UN to a one-day summit on Climate issues. Although he was strident in his words, and spoke like the born orator many believe him to be, something was lacking. He gave his commitment to push through cuts in emissions and called for focus from all leaders in trying to bring about a solution to climate change, but his speech was lacking in specifics. If Copenhagen is to achieve anything in terms of driving back climate change, there will need to be a broad consensus before the parties sit down to negotiate. Otherwise, all we can look forward to is “talks about talks” with the likely outcome that another convention will have to be summoned before 2010 is out.

Perhaps unfairly, there has been a lot of criticism directed towards the relatively new American administration in the aftermath of Obama’s speech. Yes, it was light on specifics beyond a reiterated commitment to his existing initiative to cap carbon emissions at a commercial level – but there has been precious little in the way of bright initiatives from anyone else at the same time. A recent, and bold, Australian government bill aimed at cutting emissions has failed to win parliamentary support, and with PM Kevin Rudd threatening to dissolve Parliament and call another election rather than moderate its terms, the picture is one where consensus is going to be hard to find in sole countries let alone worldwide.

It could be that all of this pessimism leads to something good, however. Although the prospects for success at Copenhagen are deemed to be poor, this pessimism may ironically drive the negotiations to be more searching and less posturing. A result from Copenhagen is not impossible until the final days of the conference, and if the leaders show goodwill between now and then a deal is not out of the question. However, the deal has to be right. If all we see is another fudge like Kyoto, we cannot afford to wait another twelve years before we sort that one out. There are two months to go before the politicians begin to sit down. Will they take the chance to work on something meaningful? We can only hope.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Oct 4, 2009

How To Find New Uses For Old Things

Finding Uses For Things In Your House

First Published Date: November 8, 2014

One of the most important things you can do when you are going green is to reuse what you already have, even before you recycle it. The concept is to reuse, then recycle and by doing this you lower your overall footprint on the environment greatly. It is quite easy to do, and it can save you an immense amount of money in the process. So, how can you reuse, then recycle, items in your home?

First, look at milk containers. The big plastic ones can be used in a number of different ways. First of all, you can use them as flower pots once you have cleaned them out. By doing this, you will have no need to buy flowerpots and you can even decorate these pots any way you wish. Another great use for milk containers is as water cans. Take a plastic milk container, poke several holes in the top of it and fill it with water. Just like that, you have a great water container that will work just as well as one that you buy at the store.

Now, yogurt containers can give you many different things around your home. Whether you have large yogurt containers or small ones, they can be used in a variety of methods.

·    You can use yogurt containers as seed starters because they are very easy to grow things in. This will give you a head start on your spring and summer growing. It also helps make the inside of your home nice and green as the snow melts outside.

·    If you cut out the bottom of the yogurt container, you can then use it to protect the base of your plants outside from insects.

·    If you like to make crafts, you can use yogurt containers to make a variety of things that you can use around the house, or for the children to play with. You can make it something you do with the children when you make cool creatures out of yogurt containers.

·    If you have leftovers, why not store them in yogurt containers rather than buy Tupperware?

·    Got toothbrushes laying around your bathroom? Stick then into a spare yogurt container and help organize things a bit.

Another great thing you can reuse around the house is plastic bags. These are awful things but you can use them to make bags by knitting plastic bags together. You can also use them to keep food fresh, or to serve as water liners in potted plants.

The things in your house can be used for a variety of things and you just have to decide what you want to use them for. Remember, when you reuse something, you are keeping yourself from buying new. That is very important because it helps the environment and when you help the environment, you help everyone. So, just reuse then recycle and you will be doing the world a very big favour.