Going Green in a Digital World

Lately it seems as though caring for the environment has taken an even more prominent place in the human consciousness. As gas prices and temperatures rise, more and more people are looking for ways to do their part and help out. We all know that there are tons of ways to "Go Green" in your daily life, but here are some ways to do it with a digital slant.

Meet Virtually

Communication technology has come a long way in even the last couple of years, and virtual meetings are now a truly viable option. Utilizing conference calls instead of burning gas to drive to a meeting is much better for the environment and can actually be more effective because you cut down on the distractions (chatting with other people in the office - not to say socializing isn't important in the right context, running late due to traffic, trying to block out other conversations that are taking place around you, etc.).

In addition, most on-demand or reservationless conference call services offer the ability to share documents like PowerPoints or design concepts, and then use a "whiteboard" function to collectively mark them up and make changes. Meeting virtually won't eliminate the need for all of your face-to-face meetings, but it will cut down on the cost of your meetings* and the amount of pollution you generate getting to them.

Paper is so 2004

As computers, email, WI-FI, online data storage, and cell phone data packages have become almost a necessity, paper is slowly becoming less and less of one. The big environmental push with paper, especially in offices, has always been to recycle. Most offices have had a paper recycling program for years. If your company doesn't have a paper recycling program, you should try to implement one immediately; most garbage companies offer curbside or dumpster based recycling services.

However, it is becoming easier and easier to push that paradigm and say "recycling is great, but not using paper at all is better". Paper has been the standard for documenting information and storing it for record keeping purposes, but now the digital frontier provides even better options. For example, paper is usually only store in one place, and if it is stored in multiple locations, it has to be copied, ultimately increasing the environmental impact. In contrast, a document can be placed on a server in a digital format and copied multiple times, to multiple locations without causing a similar environmental impact as would exist with paper. Another example would be to eliminate paper sticky notes and utilize digital notes on your computer or handheld PDA.

Turn Off the Printer

Printing documents used to be the only way to transport information to meetings or to work on outside of the office. Although printing seems benign, it uses electricity, ink and toner cartridges that are difficult to recycle and usually get thrown into the garbage, and of course paper. There are a couple of strategies to reduce the impact of your printer on the environment:

• Go completely digital - For those who want to make the biggest impact and want to pack their printer in mothballs, there are some easy steps to make that happen. First, use projectors to display documents at meetings and then email copies instead of providing handouts. Next, speak with legal council about using digital signature technology instead of printing documents, signing, and faxing them or scanning them back. Additionally, you can setup a document archiving schedule to make sure that documents are saved in multiple places and for various durations, eliminating the need for paper archives. One added benefit is that digital archives, if executed strategically, actually will make your data more secure because it won't be as susceptible to damage like paper would be (e.g. fire, flood, theft, etc.).
• Take baby steps - If you don't want to dive in 100% there are small changes you can make to begin reducing your printer's environmental footprint. First, set your printer to use a power save function to reduce the electricity drained while not actively printing (many printers already have this by default, but it's always good to double check in case yours doesn't). Next set your printer to print double sided if possible. This could potentially reduce your paper usage by almost 50%. Another option is to look into ink and toner cartridge recycling programs. Some companies will actually refill your existing cartridges, while others will recycle them in an environmentally friendly way.

Power Off Instead of Standby

Did you know that when you turn off most electronics they actually go into a "standby" mode; they don't actually turn off in the technical sense? This "standby" mode makes it so that the appliance can turn back on much faster than if it had to move from a state of being totally without any power, to warming up, to being "on". Unfortunately, "standby" mode requires a certain amount of power to keep the machine active. Certain items in your office will need to remain "on" or on "standby" including servers, main fax machine, network components, etc., but there are some items that can be essentially unplugged until you are ready to use them. These "unpluggables" could include:

• Computer monitors
• TV displays
• Projectors
• Computers that aren't running programs overnight
• Charging adapters for phones and PDA's
• Decorative and task lamps

Now, physically unplugging office equipment isn't always practical, but you can attach those items to a power strip with an on/off switch. This way all you have to do is turn off the power strip and the standby power drain will be substantially reduced.

Being environmentally aware should be an increasing priority for everyone on the planet. Hopefully some of these ideas will turn on the compact fluorescent light bulb above your head and inspire you to change a few things and make an impact!

_{* Assuming a vehicle achieves 20 mpg on average and gasoline costs $3.50 per gallon, the cost in gas alone is $0.18 per mile. At freeway speeds of 60 mph, that would equate to $0.18 per minute of travel. Many conference call services provide calling rates of $0.10 per minute or less.}

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