Few things to become environment friendly at workplace

Contributing to environment from workplace!! Is it really possible to protect rare forests, fertile agriculture lands and rivers when we spend most of our time within four walls? I think it is not difficult if we follow “less use policy”. Let us see what this “less use policy” is and how this makes us environment friendly.

Using less / no plastic

Unmanaged plastic waste has become one of the major pollutants on these days. Plastic recycling is considered as one of the most inefficient recycling process if it gets mixed up with other waste materials. Lot of energy and water is required to separate the used plastic from these waste materials. This is how plastic recycling contributes to the global warming and other pollutions. We can make a little difference by consuming less/no plastic and by handling it properly if we use it. Following practices may reduce our plastic usage at work place

1. Use water bottles for drinking water at pantries and workplaces than using plastic cups
2. It is good to declare the canteen as a plastic free zone and use steel utensils in place of use-and- throw plastic cups and bowls.
3. If above action is not feasible at least multiple plastic cups and bowls usage can be avoided
   
4. It is good to avoid getting food parcel from outside where lot of plastic bags and boxes are used for its packing
5. Mixing of used plastic with other waste materials like food, water and paper can be avoided by using separate waste baskets for plastic alone.

Using less / no paper :

Some of the rare forests are being cut for converting them into all sorts of papers. One of the popular brand’s facial tissue, toilet paper and napkins which we use in our day-to-day life come from ancient forests that have existed for over 10,000 years. We can save at least few trees by following few simple things to reduce our paper consumption

1. Judicious use of paper cups.
2. Judicious use of tissue papers where ever they are used.
3. Use personal handkerchief in place of tissue papers where ever it is possible
4. Judicious use of printers and copy machines.
5. Use both sides of paper for print, printing with two pages per sheet if it is okay.
6. Switch to E-statements (bank, credit card, phone etc.) and E-magazines
7. Avoid subscription of free printed copies of magazines

Using water judiciously

Generally we use a “single quality of water” for all our purposes. This either comes from surface or from sub-surface water resources after passing through expensive and energy consuming purification and distribution processes. We can reduce this energy consumption by following few below steps to save water

1. Keep water taps closed while applying soap, combing etc.
2. Make sure water taps are closed properly after use
3. If come across leaky taps if possible close properly or inform concerned authorities.
4. Use appropriate amount of soap, more soap consumes more water.

Using electricity judiciously

In our country major share of electricity is generated by thermal power plants which need extensive burning of gas and coal. The carbon dioxide emission from these plants is one the major cause for “green house effect” and rise in earth's temperature. We can reduce the load on these generation plants by following few simple things to save power

1. Where ever it is possible switch off the electric lamps by using sun light for lighting of work place.
2. Switch off the lights and projector at meeting hall before leaving
3. Switch off the monitors while leaving for the day
4. Shutting down desktop computers and switching off mains buttons at the desks while leaving for the day can prevent lot of power wastage.
5. Use of laptops instead of work stations can help in reducing power consumption

Few links

www.marketsinitiative.org/resources/paper-database

www.greenpeace.org

www.wikipedia.org