Office Sustainability Checklist from the Girardeau Goes Green Advisory Board

This is a checklist any office can use to conserve resources and save money from the Girardeau Goes Green Advisory Board.

Download: Green Office Sustainability Checklist

Waste Prevention Checklist

• Reuse packaging materials from incoming shipments (bubble wrap, boxes, etc.)
• Buy supplies in bulk when possible
• Avoid products with excess packaging
• Use rechargeable batteries
• Donate unwanted furniture, food, and magazines to charitable organizations
• Use cloth towels and sponges in kitchens rather than paper towels
• Provide washable utensils and dishes for employees
• Use reusable containers to pack home-prepared lunches

Paper Reduction Checklist

Purchasing

• Purchase office paper with a lower basis weight (example: 18-pound copier paper instead of 20-pound)

• Purchase post-consumer recycled-content paper office supplies (30%, 50%, or 100% recycled)

Accounting

• Request paperless billing from suppliers/clients, and send out electronic bills/invoices to customers/clients
• Review draft invoices electronically, even if the final version is sent as a hard copy to suppliers/clients

Reuse

• Reuse single-sided paper (for notepads, draft copies, etc.)
• Reuse paper office supplies (file folders, large mailing envelopes, cardboard boxes, etc.)
• Have internal notepads made from outdated letterhead

Mail

• Reduce unwanted mail, and remove your company’s name from direct mailing lists
• Periodically update mailing lists
• Use two-way envelopes

Fax

• E-faxing; modify/eliminate fax cover sheets
• Request vendors/advertisers to refrain from sending unwanted faxes

Publications

• Subscribe to online publications instead of hard copies
• Circulate hard copy publications around the office with interested staff

Packaging

• Use reusable containers instead of cardboard or other packaging for product deliveries

Printing

• Make double-sided printing the default setting for printer/copier devices
• Only print emails when necessary
• Use the “print preview” function to optimize print jobs
• Test multi-copy print jobs before printing the full run
• Alter your standard templates to maximize useable paper space (shrink margins, etc.)
• Use “multiple pages per sheet” printing function, especially for drafts
• Use “track changes” or other electronic editing tools to minimize hand-written editing on hard copies
• Print only pages that are necessary by selecting specific sections/pages
• Use scan-to-email function on printer/copier machines

Water Conservation Checklist

• Post signs that encourage water conservation in kitchens and bathrooms (e.g. turning off water while washing hands and brushing teeth)
• Inform service providers (laundry, landscaper, dishwasher) that water efficiency is a priority
• Fix leaks immediately
• Install high efficiency dishwashers and only run full dishwasher loads
• Explore whether your property manager is willing to upgrade to high efficiency toilets
• Use garbage disposals sparingly; compost instead

Energy Conservation Checklist

• Track energy costs to better understand all the ways your business consumes energy
• Install automatic thermostats that let you program different settings for different days/times of the week
• Install motion sensor lights that shut off when no one is in the room
• Use energy efficient T-8 or T-5 lamps with electronic ballasts
• Remove any unneeded lighting

Recycle Checklist

• Check out what can be recycled in Cape Girardeau
• Work with your property manager to implement a commercial compost collection service
• Take unwanted electronics to Recycling Center
• Purchase paper with a high post-consumer recycled-content (100% is ideal)
• Purchase supplies that contain recycled material
• Ensure that all employees and customers/clients have easy access to recycling containers

Toxins, Chemicals, and Oils

• Use Green Seal approved cleaners
• Use water-based cleaners
• Track and phase out use of plastics with Bisphenol-A (BPA), phthalates or other plasticizer additives
• Create policies to use paint that has a low volatile organic compound (VOC ) content or is VOC-free, to buy carpeting that meets the requirements of the CRI Green Label Testing Program, to buy flooring/composite panels/agrifiber products that contain no ureaformaldehyde resins, and to buy furniture that uses adhesives and sealants with a VOC content less than the current VOC content limits