These days it is becoming increasingly important to cut our carbon footprint. There are lots of guides, hints and tips out there about how to do this in your home; choose A rated appliances, switch to LED lighting, drive an electric or hybrid car, move towards a more plant based diet and decrease your single use plastic.
However there is often one large area of our lives which is overlooked – the office.
There are in fact lots of ways in which your office or other workspace can cut their carbon footprint, so check out some of our top tips below.
Switch to LED lighting
Simply replacing your existing light bulbs and fluorescent strip lighting etc with LED’s can have a huge effect on the amount of energy that is used – sometimes reducing it by up to 1/30th! There is a slightly higher price to pay to install them in the first place, but the reduction on your energy bills alone will have them paying for themselves in no time.
Turn off the lights
The next step to reducing your lighting power bill even further is to turn off lights when they’re not being used. Lights in communal areas such as kitchens, toilets, corridors and stairways are often left on all the time, but this is a huge waste of energy. So the next time that you’ve finished making a cup of tea, turn the light off when you leave.
Reduce vampire energy consumption
Don’t worry, it’s not quite as bloodthirsty as it sounds! Vampire energy consumption refers to the amount of power that is used by electronics that are left plugged in when they are fully charged, or for chargers and power cables that are left plugged in at the mains when they’re not otherwise being used. This pointless use of power is a super easy win when it comes to reducing the energy consumption of your office.
Choose energy efficient computers
Next time you are upgrading your office computers, along with checking speed and power why not also consider how energy efficient they are? These days many computers and laptops are designed with power saving functions in mind. For example, some use extra low amounts of power when in sleep mode, have special power saving modes and use energy efficient power supplies. But it can also be as simple as choosing a laptop with a super long battery life over a desktop which will be plugged in all the time.
If you do decide to move to more energy efficient computers and other electronics in your office, make sure that you also think carefully about what you do with the old ones, as them simply ending up on landfill is actually going to be far worse than you continuing to use them!
Buy IT Back are specialists in green electronics disposal and computer recycling who can even offer you a buy back service for taking your unwanted electronic items away and dealing with them in the most carbon friendly means possible.
To find out more contact Buy IT Back today.
