56 Ways to Go Green in 2009

By Gail Nickel-Kailing on December 18th, 2008

Our holiday gift to you is a handy-dandy list of 56 - count ‘em - Ways to Go Green in 2009. Some are pretty simple and, we’ll admit, some are pretty far out on the edge.

The good news is: There’s no reason not to begin to implement your sustainability strategy, starting with the first of the year. Think of these as your “New Year’s Resolutions!”

All of these ideas came from articles, interviews, white papers, and other resources found on WhatTheyThink Going Green. Watch for more useful ideas - and some wacky ones too - in 2009.

Have a happy holiday and we’ll see you next year!

Printing operations can be green - and lean!

1. Get Chain of Custody certified.
2. Become a Sustainable Green Printer.
3. Purchase as many supplies locally as possible.
4. Implement green-friendly press cleaning initiatives, such as dry ice.
5. Avoid aerosols and other ozone-depleting chemicals.
6. Replace chemical cleaning agents with natural, biodegradable, phosphorous free cleaning solutions.
7. Establish your baseline - you can’t reduce what you don’t measure.
8. Always provide a quote for the most environmentally friendly solution along with the quote that matches the customer’s spec.
9. Explore stacking pallets where possible so trucks can carry more cargo.
10. Develop a program to pick up obsolete or unused inventory from your customer’s warehouse, “back-haul” on empty trucks, and recyle it for them.
11. Collect empty paper cores to rewind paper on them and reduce waste sent to land fills.
12. Implement an environmental management system in your operation like ISO 14001.
13. Make the most of every sheet - print as many images per page as possible on a sheet, taking advantage of the largest sheet size.
14. Make two-sided prints and copies in your office.
15. Use scan-to-e-mail instead of faxing.
16. Use the Internet and e-mail to deliver soft proofs to clients.
17. Upgrade old equipment with more-efficient products will save energy.
18. Replace stand-alone office products with multifunction systems.
19. Installing a governor on fleet engines so they can’t exceed 60 miles an hour to bolster fuel mileage.
20. Purchase hybrids, electric cars, flex-fuel vehicles, and other alt-fuel vehicles for delivery.
21. Rent tradeshow booths to eliminate the impact of the build process.
22. Design a “lighter” tradeshow booth that requires fewer people to transport and setup and is lighter to ship.

Give your building a boost!

1. Install solar panels.
2. Install a wind power generator.
3. Use and recycle environmentally-friendly light bulbs.
4. Convert to wind power by buying renewable energy credits.
5. Take advantage of local electricity programs to conserve energy during peak hours and/or seasons.
6. Implement LED lighting where practical.
7. Reduce energy consumption by powering equipment down when not in use, or at the end of the day.
8. Install sun-tracking skylights use solar-powered GPS to follow the sun, maximizing the amount of natural light that can illuminate work places and minimizing electricity costs.
9. Install solar tubes that bring natural light through a dome on the roof and channel it down into interior office space through internal reflective tubing.
10. Install passive heating and cooling can regulate interior temperatures without air conditioners and boilers.
11. Install integrated photovoltaic solar panels that serve as the roof membrane to power the building.
12. Heat and cool your building with a geothermal heat pump.

Whether you’re in the city or the ‘burbs, you can do a lot with the space around your building!

1. Install a biodiesel “still.”
2. Build a greenhouse for employee garden space.
3. Compost lawn and break room waste to heat the greenhouse.
4. Locate a beehive on company property to sweeten coffee and tea in the break room.
5. Turn part of your lawn into employee garden plots.
6. Turn part of your lawn into a natural meadow, eliminating the need for watering, herbicides, and pesticides.
7. Plant trees around your building.
8. Modify or design parking lots to capture rainwater and divert it to either underground holding tanks or retention ponds.

Social and community involvement adds another element to Going Green!

1. Encourage employees to join a CSA farm - Community Supported Agriculture - a cooperative effort between consumers and farmers.
2. Become active in community and industry organizations that reflect your company’s values.
3. Encourage and reward customers for participating in environmental programs.
4. Educate customers they are largely unaware of green products.
5. Be honest - no greenwashing, no hedging.

Consider how your employees can both implement and benefit from your green initiatives.

1. Provide fair-trade coffee and tea for employees.
2. Encourage employees to bring and use ceramic mugs.
3. Create a sustainability council and office green teams to ensure that the company is meeting its principles of sustainability.
4. Offer employees green stocks for their 401(k)s.
5. Replaced disposable dishes and utensils in the cafeteria/break room with ceramic and metal.
6. Sponsor fairs or “Brown Bag Lunches” that educate your employees about environmentalism.
7. Encourage telecommuting or commuting on a bike.
8. Make someone responsible for seeing that you achieve your environmental goals - your own environmental czar!
9. For employees that live in a densely populated area, provide staff with an employee bus.

There you are - 56 ways to go green!