Psychedelic Screensaver

How Green Can Your Home Office Go?

In a previous article ‘Is Your Office As Green As It Could Be’ I shared a couple of tips on how you can help reduce your waste and save money in your home office. Well it really got my juices going and the ideas just kept flowing. So in this article I want to share my 5 bonus tips to help you save money, precious resources and do something in a small way for a big cause!

Tip 1 – Power Consumption

There are some really simple ways that you can save power in your office and nearly all of them you can start saving with today!

Lighting and appliances - turn off any lights and appliances that are not required. Are you working in your home office and have lights, radio or maybe a TV on in the other rooms that are not being occupied? If there is plenty of daylight coming in, keep the lights off!
Computers – turn your PC to standby mode if you take a lunch break and even turn it off if you are leaving the office for more than an hour. Better still activate the Energy Save Mode to come on after a set period of inactivity.
Dump your screensaver – If you still have one of those screensavers that move – whether it’s a psychedelic one or a tamer variety – did you know that these can consume as much energy as when your computer is in use?
Heating/Cooling – if you are expecting extreme heat or cold, shut the blinds first thing in the morning before you feel the need to. Doing this early on in the day reduces the overall heat/cold gain of the building and reduces the need to use air conditioning. You can enjoy that view again once the heat/cold subsides in the day. • Your Cuppa – yes you can save money with your cuppa! I have been so guilty of this in the past; feeling the need to fill the kettle to the top each time I boiled it. I think it is a bit of OCD on my part, but I found it hard to shake. Until one day I had an ephiphany brought on by severe pain when I put my hands around the stainless steel kettle, feeling if it had already been boiled (don’t ask!). As I nursed my hands in cold water I thought about the incredible heat and how much of that invisible electricity it must draw to generate that. So only fill the kettle as much as you think you will need, then flick it on to boil!

Tip 2 – Travel Habits

This certainly became more important to us when fuel prices hit record levels – group all of your errands together and knock them over in the one trip. If something can wait until the next day when you are going out, then let it wait rather than making a special trip.

Tip 3 – Email your Accounts

Up until about a year ago I was still posting out invoices, brochures, etc. I thought my clients would think I was rude or an upstart by sending them their accounts via email. I really don’t know what I was so worried about, I know myself that I scan all my correspondence into my computer as I love having everything in an e-format and not having to rifle through lever arch or suspension files for that tatty old piece of paper. Just think of the money you can save on paper, printing, postage – but the key here is to backup-backup-backup!

Tip 4 – Printer Purchases

This one is a bit tricky, because I am going to tell you to spend more, but it will bring about savings in the long run – you’ll see … When you purchase your next copier/fax/printer, consider one that has a standby mode. They will probably be a little dearer, but they will save you a lot of power.

Which brings me to another point; cheap machines usually have a high consumables cost. Those dinky little printers you see for $69, they usually chew through the ink and the replacement ink cartridges most probably will be the more expensive kind as well (they have got to make their money somewhere). It’s probably better to spend twice as much on a machine that uses ink economically.

Tip 5 – Do Your Homework

There are some great consumer websites that provide comparisons on appliances, showing you which will be cheaper to run, more energy efficient, etc. A great one is www.choice.com.au. Some of their reports are free and some in depth reports you have to pay for. I think I paid about $11 for a comparison report on the best copier/printer/fax to buy and it has been a great investment for me and I couldn’t be happier with my machine.

But above all don’t get caught up and fret about what you are not doing to help save the planet, just focus on the things that you are able to do right now and take it from there. You will soon get hooked on finding new ways to save money and help the environment at the same time – and why wouldn’t you, it’s a win-win situation!

About the Author

Claire Dening is a Virtual Assistant and Office Support Specialist, offering professional assistance on demand, to solo operators and businesses worldwide. As the Principal of Clerical On Call Claire has over 17 years of advanced clerical and secretarial experience supporting Executives in some of the world’s largest corporations. With expertise in all areas of office support Claire can assist you with your administration, letting you get back to business. Find out how at www.clericaloncall.com.au

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 5:36 am and is filed under Best Screensavers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.