Did You Get the Memo that Green is the New Black? by Aaron Gessner

So/Ho’s (Small Offices/Home Offices) can tap into the “Green Movement” by following some of these tips.

1) Stop creating “e-waste”! Over 350 million ink cartridges are dumped into landfills per year in America. Get your ink cartridges refilled at a refill cartridge store like Cartridge World; the price is about half of a new one and consumer reports show that the quality is just as good or better.

2) I know you may think the new LED (Light-emitting diodes) light bulbs are too expensive, don’t last as long and make your skin look icky, but they could reduce national energy consumption by 29 percent by 2025 for a total savings of $125 billion, according to the Department of Energy. Also, the more consumers buy them the faster the quality will go up and the prices come down. Or, if you decide to replace your regular incandescent light bulb to a compact fluorescent light bulb, you can save up to $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, if every U.S. household replaced just one regular incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb, it would prevent 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, the equivalent of taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

3) Avoid business trips. Invest in videoconferencing software or products such as Proximity to get face to face with your clients without dragging your “carbon footprint” all over the world. The initial invest may seem costly but over time you will save money by avoiding costly travel, hotel and restaurant costs from business trips. Calculate your “carbon footprint” and the amount you can save by cutting down your business travel at http://www.mycarbonfootprint.eu/carboncalculator_about_en.asp. The results will astonish you!

4) “Common Cents say, tune in or turn off.” Why does your television need to be on in the other room if no one is there to watch it? Save money and conserve energy by turning off electronic equipment when you are finished using it.

5) All work and no play make Johnnie very cranky. With all the money you’ve saved from these tips, and the reassurance you have from doing your part to save the environment, go walk down to the local ice cream parlor and treat yourself to a cone.

Sources:

http://www.proximity.com/home.asp

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june05/led_6-13.html

http://environment.about.com/od/greenlivingdesign/a/light_bulbs.htm

http://www.mycarbonfootprint.eu/carboncalculator_about_en.asp

http://blogs.pcworld.com/tipsandtweaks/archives/004706.html

http://www.trustedreviews.com/printers/review/2007/04/21/The-Inkjet-Investigation/p1

Aaron Gessner is a freelance writer based out of Chicago, Illinois