Global Workspace Association » Green Tips http://www.globalworkspace.org/businesscenternews Office Business Center Association International Wed, 23 May 2012 19:37:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 Going Green at Work: 5 Tips http://www.globalworkspace.org/businesscenternews/blog-posts/going-green-at-work-5-tips/ http://www.globalworkspace.org/businesscenternews/blog-posts/going-green-at-work-5-tips/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 18:30:36 +0000 obcadmin http://www.obcai.com/businesscenternews/?p=1102 More Work, Less Energy
For many people, a computer is the central tool at work. Optimizing the energy settings for computers and other devices can be more than a modest energy saver. Set computers to energy-saving settings and make sure to shut them down when you leave for the day (‘standby’ settings will continue to draw power even when not in use). By plugging hardware into a power strip with an on/off switch (or a smart power strip), the whole desktop setup can be turned off at once (make sure to power down inkjet printers before killing the power they need to seal their cartridges). Printers, scanners, and other peripherals that are only used occasionally can be unplugged until they’re needed. And of course, turn off lights in spaces that are unoccupied.

 

  • Don’t Be a Paper Pusher
    When buying printer paper, look for recycled paper with a high percentage of post-consumer content and the minimum of chlorine bleaching. Even recycled paper gobbles up a great deal of energy, water, and chemical resources in its processing (toxic pulp slurry is the paper recycling industry?s dirty secret). When using the real stuff, print on both sides of the page when appropriate and use misprints as notepaper. Try to choose printers and photocopiers that do double-sided printing. If your office ships packages, reuse boxes and use shredded waste paper as packing material.

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  • Use Green Materials
    Some paper use can’t be avoided, so use recycled paper and envelopes that have been processed and colored using eco-friendly methods. Pens and pencils can also be made of recycled materials, and refillable pens and markers are preferable to disposable ones. Use biodegradable soaps and recycled paper or cloth towels in the bathroom and kitchen, and provide biodegradable cleaners for the custodial staff. Buy in bulk so that shipping and packaging waste are reduced, and reuse the shipping boxes. Recycling printer cartridges is often free, and recycled replacements are cheaper than new ones.

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  • Redesign the Workspace
    Greening the space in which you work has almost limitless possibilities. Start with good furniture, good lighting, and good air. Furniture can be manufactured from recycled materials as well as recyclable. Herman-Miller and Steelcase are two groundbreaking companies that have adopted the Cradle-to-Cradle protocol for many of their office chairs. Incandescent bulbs can be replaced with compact fluorescents and there is an ever-growing selection of high-end LED desk lamps that use miniscule amounts of energy (see How to Green Your Lighting). Not only is natural daylight a free source of lighting for the office, it has been proven to improve worker productivity and satisfaction (as well as boost sales in retail settings). Workspace air quality is also crucial. Good ventilation and low-VOC paints and materials (such as furniture and carpet) will keep employees healthy (look for How to Green Your Furniture coming soon).

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  • Lunch Time
    Bringing lunch to work in reusable containers is likely the greenest (and healthiest) way to eat at work. Getting delivery and takeout almost inevitably ends with a miniature mountain of packaging waste. But if you do order delivery, join coworkers in placing a large order (more efficient than many separate ones). Also, bring in a reusable plate, utensils, and napkins. If you do go out for lunch, try biking or walking instead of driving.

    • What are you doing in your business center to help the environment? Comment and share!

    Read more green tips by Team Planet Green from Discovery

    ]]>     http://www.globalworkspace.org/businesscenternews/blog-posts/going-green-at-work-5-tips/feed/ 0     Social Media-5 tips to make your time most effective http://www.globalworkspace.org/businesscenternews/blog-posts/social-media-5-tips-to-make-your-time-most-effective/ http://www.globalworkspace.org/businesscenternews/blog-posts/social-media-5-tips-to-make-your-time-most-effective/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:58:32 +0000 obcadmin http://www.brianmcculloh.com/ocbai/?p=9 by Sue Ennis, Business Center Marketing

    Reserve “just enough” time  – block your calendar for social media time and treat it like a regular meeting.  You start and you finish on time.  Choose a time that works for you.  For some, it’s first thing in the morning over coffee, for others it’s an afternoon break from the daily routine.  Keep the effort short, but frequent, to stay on top of opportunities and to remain active.

    Keep to your checklist– login and stay on track with purpose. Update your status, share interesting news, forward on relevant news, answer messages, accept/send invitations, check social mentions and reply to comments.  Soon the checklist will be engrained in your DNA, but stay focused.  As we all know, without a roadmap, it’s easy to get side-tracked and out on a tangent that’s just a time waster of no value.  Have a checklist for weekly and monthly tasks to ensure every drum gets a beat along the way.

    Use the power of replication – link your profiles to each other so you can update from one place and keep momentum going on another.  Blog posts can be set up to auto-populate as news on your main site homepage, in your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn status updates can automatically be shared to your Twitter following.  Caution – Do not rely on auto population more than this.  Tools found at www.ping.fm can help you send updates across your various platform, but be sure to login to each and personally review the activity to gain the true benefits of social media – the personal connection to others. Keep the “social” in social media!

    Analyze your effects – review what information gets passed along and focus on where you see the most results.  Identify a trend of what’s meaningful to your audience and what makes them act in a way that is revenue generating. As you work to build relationships and credibility, keep the end goal in mind.  Quantity is not where it’s at, the quality of what you send and the strength of your social media engagement is where the positive ROI is found.  Be smart and keep to your strategic social media roadmap.  Use tools such as www.tweeteffect.com to see when people drop you or join you.

    Remain Streamlined – with thousands of social media platforms and exponentially more tools and apps, it’s easy to take on more that you’d humanly be able to manage.  Revert back to your core platforms, your objectives and strategy to remain focused at all times.  A solid, frequently updated presence on LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and maintaining a blog or destination where you group your posts is more than optimal to achieve the benefits of social media…and the positive ROI.

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