The time you spend in college provides you with myriad opportunities. Not only are you expanding your base of knowledge and preparing for your future career by earning a degree, but you also get to try all kinds of new things, make new friends and future business connections, and learn how to take care of yourself. However, eco-minded students also have a rare opportunity to implement major changes in their small corner of the world. Most college campuses encourage free thinking and innovation, so you may have the opportunity to influence your fellow students and even the campus at large when you tackle eco-friendly initiatives. Of course, you’ll have to put some thought and planning into anything you want to work on a campus-wide scale. But whether you’re simply doing your part for the planet or you’re pushing students and faculty to join the cause, you can take strides towards a greener tomorrow during your time in college. Here are just a few steps that could have an impact, large or small.

1. Start a recycling program. If your campus doesn’t already have a recycling program in place, there’s no reason you can’t attempt to get one going. You could start by making your own trips to the local recycling center, collecting cans and bottles from the students in your dorm. From there you might start a club and recruit members from every dorm on campus to do the same. And finally, you could look into what it would take to post recycling bins around campus and get the local facility to do a regular pickup at your location. You might even want to find out if the school could earn some money in the process, a prospect that might make the administration more likely to get on board.
2. Go paperless. For your own benefit, it’s not a bad idea to go paperless as much as possible. A tablet or laptop can help you here, especially with good note-taking software installed or downloaded. With such a device you can also carry a library full of books with you everywhere (without straining your back), including a fair number of textbooks. And talk to your teachers about the possibility of turning in papers electronically. Some might even be willing to switch to digital delivery of tests to cut down on the paper used in class.
3. Hiking, biking, and public transit. Carbon emissions are a major source of air pollution and global warming, amongst other things. So anything you can do to avoid spewing exhaust into the atmosphere will only help the planet, not to mention your lungs. Walking and biking are easy enough to accomplish on campus, but what if you have an off-campus job or you like to explore the city? In this case mass transit can provide a solution, and your campus may even offer discount bus or rail passes for students to make the prospect more affordable. Of course, if you have the money, an electric car is also a good option, especially if your campus provides charging stations in parking garages.
4. Petition for organic foods. While most college campuses try to provide a variety of food options in the cafeteria, including vegetarian fare and fresh produce, you won’t find too many offering green options like locally-sourced or organic items. So you might want to petition for the inclusion of such foods. It will help if you take the time to look into options available in your area and even find out about pricing and delivery so you can provide the administration with a comprehensive plan for implementing such practices.
5. Build solar panels. Your school is likely amenable to the prospect of solar power, but the cost of installing a solar array may cause the administration to balk. In this case you could look into starting a group project whereby you solicit the aide of local businesses to donate time, money, products, or expertise to bringing solar panels to your campus. With a fair amount of student labor to help set them up, you might be able to provide your campus, or at least a couple of buildings with free, clean, solar energy. Whether you enlist the aid of engineering students or you bring in a friend who’s going for an online accounting masters degree to help you crunch numbers, a little planning and a lot of enthusiasm can make your dreams of clean energy on campus a reality.

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Saving money is becoming an important part of many households and paper bags are showing their number of uses to help many homes look after the pennies.

We have created a list of 5 unusual uses for paper bags that you would never have thought of before:

1. Ripening fruit
If you are planning to use your fruit for a crumble or a pie so you can freeze it and eat it a number of times over the coming weeks, but the fruit isn’t quite ripe, place them in a paper bag. Paper bags are known to ripen fruits faster while still allowing sufficient ventilation.

2. Clearing Your Windscreen
The price of de-icer and scrapers that often break add up, whereas simply placing a few paper bags on your windscreen, underneath your window wipers, means they can be peeled off leaving a clear surface for you to see through. This is both cost effective and good for safety.

3. Arts And Crafts
You can never have too many materials for arts and crafts but paper bags can be used in a number of different ways. They can be painted, they can be cut and glued, they can be used for texture and they can even be made into parachutes, which is great for when the rain prevents the children from going out to play.

4. Compost
Paper bags and cardboard are both materials that earthworms enjoy, making them great for compost heaps. Chuck them on your compost heap and see great results.

5. Cleaning Mops
Once you clean the house, the mop can collect a lot of dust, dirt and debris and trying to remove it from the mop can often spread the dirt around the room again which is a nightmare. By putting the mop head into a paper bag and giving it a little shake will remove all of the dirt and dust from the mop into a bag without spreading it everywhere again.

There are so many ways we can reuse materials, and paper bags have a lot of interesting uses that mean you can save money when around the home instead of having to visit the supermarket to buy new products.

BIO:

Thomas blogs about a number of things and one of his passions is helping people to save money easily around the home. For paper bags, Thomas recommends the Paper Bag Company.

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When you think about businesses going green you probably think of offices using energy efficient light bulbs and cutting down on their use of paper. Going green seems to be so easy for office settings. However, when it comes to industrial companies that are required to use heavy machinery for their jobs, green is probably the last word that comes to mind. However, going green in the Industrial world is much easier than you would think. Here are 4 easy ways for industrial companies to go green.

1. Use Solar Energy. Industrial companies use a lot of energy each day. Between transportation, residential, commercial, and industrial energies, the industrial energy uses an estimated 31.44% of all energy. This is due to mainly to the manufacturing done by industrial companies. While industrial companies certainly can’t put their manufacturing processes to halt, they can find ways to use alternative energy. Solar energy may be ideal because it is relatively inexpensive and not harmful to the environment. It does not emit harmful gases and it is a renewable energy resource. For a company that utilizes high amounts of energy each day, this is ideal.
2. Use Dry Ice Blasting. Dry ice blasting is a great tool for cleaning industrial equipment that few people know about. Some of the traditional methods for cleaning industrial equipment include sand blasting and water blasting. While these are effective methods for cleaning industrial equipment, they can be quite a hassle. They tend to leave a bit of a mess to clean up afterwards (specifically sandblasting in which you’ll have to pick up the sand after each use). On the other hand, dry ice blasting uses compressed air to accelerate frozen carbon dioxide or “dry ice” pellets to high velocity. It is non-abrasive, non-toxic, non-flammable, non-conductive, and extremely environmentally friendly. It leaves no mess to clean up afterwards. Dry ice is perhaps the most efficient, convenient, and environmentally friendly way for industrial companies to clean their equipment.
3. Go Paperless. Offices aren’t the only business environments that can benefit from going paperless. Industrial businesses can benefit just as well. Think of all of the things you may use paper for — billing, packaging slips, ordering forms, etc. Most of this paper can easily be eliminated by using digital technology. Try to implement online ordering systems whenever possible. Instead of sending physical bills send emails. You’ll be surprised by how much paper you save. You’ll also be saving energy since you won’t need to run your printer all the time.
4. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. When it comes to going green, remembering the 3 R’s is key. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. How many things can your business do without? Do you really need all of those machines and chemicals, or can you cut down on some of your supplies? Are your materials reusable? Before buying new equipment and materials always check your inventory to see if there’s any products you can recycle or reuse. If you absolutely must purchase new materials try to buy ones that you can get multiple use out of. It may cost you more upfront, but in the long run you’ll save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. You’ll also be helping to protect the environment, and how can you put a price tag on that?

Do you work for an industrial company? What are some of your best tips on going green and protecting the environment?

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Many students today are struggling with their day to day lives in school. In result their grades are slowly taking a deep plunge. What they do is double their effort to study. But they also have other matters to do, juggling all of these while studying is taxing.

As a student, it is your responsibility to have better academic performance. Getting low marks in your transcript of records can affect your future career. Before that happens, you have to start an environment friendly lifestyle and take a big step to success.

How does going green helps students?  Here are few reasons how it can improve their academic performance:

Walking Saves Energy and Also Helps the Brain

Now, you have an excuse to miss the school bus every morning. Researchers in Dana-Fabar and Harvard Medical School found that a specific molecule released during exercise, effectively protects your brain from degeneration. The molecules, called Irisin are produced as chain reaction to exercise. This molecule in turn, activates the learning and memory genes. Ditch those high-carbon emission vehicles and stick to walking. You are not only saving mother earth, but you are also making your self fit and intelligent.

Organic Foods are Healthier

Research in Stanford University confirmed that, compared to chemically grown foods, organic foods do not make people any healthier. But without poisonous insecticides and synthetic fertilizers, organic foods are at least safer to eat. You do not want these toxins getting into you blood stream and later on affecting your mental ability. With organic food such as whole grain, blueberries, tomatoes, broccoli and more, you get vitamins that boost brain power. Some of these vitamins and minerals are: vitamin B, folic acid, vitamin K, lycopene and more.

Reduce Paper for Convenience

Traditional tests, essay writing projects and school activities require students to write on papers. Decrease this to help the environment. Students should contribute to lessening carbon footprints by submitting essays online. You save more than 50% of resources if you ditch traditional process. Sometimes students have to write fast to accommodate time to print their papers. The results are poorly written projects. Going online makes submitting convenient to the students and fast for their professors.

Cleaner Environment Makes You  Inspired to Study

A clean and green environment is conducive to learning. Fresh air and a great ambiance sets the mood of students to study harder. They won’t find their surrounding distracting so they are focused to studying. Also a green environment lessen eye strain. Studies say that the color green calms the nerves in the eyes, so even in long use, it does not easily get tired. Students should take part in keeping their environment clean because they benefit from it.

Green Living Teaches Responsibility

As you know, saving the earth is a very difficult agenda. However, it makes people responsible, a very important trait for students to do well in school. Responsible students works hard in studying, doing their projects and participating in their class, because they understand its effect to their future. If you want to learn how to be a responsible students, you should start by being a responsible citizen of earth.

Energy Efficient Light Bulbs Are Better When Studying

Energy efficiency should also be learned by students. Aside from saving enough energy to light more than three million homes, and preventing the release of greenhouse gas emission, these eco-friendly light bulbs also help you in studying. They are brighter and more radiant so studying late at night, won’t be difficult for your eyes.

These are some reasons why students should start caring for the environment. They do not only save the world from destruction caused by global warming, they also pave their way to a better life and career.

Author’s Bio

Lace Wander is a blogger and writer. She is also an environmentalist and an anima lover. When she is not busy working as a writer for bestessays, she stays at home with her dog and tend to her small garden.

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In today’s society, most college campuses are taking a step to become more environmentally friendly. As a student at Green Mountain College, one of the greenest schools in the nation, my colleagues and I have a strong sense of how to be aware of our impact on the environment and our college’s impact on the environment. We went to neighboring schools and interviewed other students about what their campus does to be sustainable.

The things we heard most were that recycling was a new big intuitive, but they lacked the knowledge of any other campus wide greening activities, other than recycling and “do it in the dark,” an electricity saving competition. We were told by a sustainability club member that there were many things that their campus was doing; composting, banning all plastic water bottles and giving incoming students Nalgene’s, and energy saving events. The second college we visited only had a few recycling bins.

My colleagues and I then thought of a few tips to share to other students, that are looking to be more eco-conscious;

– making recycling bins on campus more available

– use less paper towels

– Print double-sided

–  upcycle

– re-use old papers

– try to get local grown foods (not only are they better for you but you’ll be supporting local farmers)

– use energy efficient light bulbs

– see if your campus can start a greening fund dedicated to making the campus greener

– use campus wide contests to reduce waste/ energy

– ban plastic bottles and switch to reusable water bottles

– start composting

Stay Eco-Conscious!

By Ethan Cooper from Green Mountain College.

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American students used paper bags to celebrate Earth Day this year as part of a campaign to help improve the environment.

Earth Day is an annual event that happens every April 22nd and has stemmed from the Flower Power movement of the 1970s.

This day is dedicated to doing well for the environment by discussing environmental and social causes around the world. The idea is to get more and more people to eat less meat, cut their energy use and reduce the amount of plastics they consume and use.

Food Lion, a superstore in the US with a number of chains around the States, has got involved in Earth Day in a big way by introducing a number of sustainability measures around their stores. One example includes recycling bins outside their stores for their customer to drop in any used or unwanted bags. This has allowed them to recycle over 3,500 tonnes of plastic during 2013 alone.

Food Lion had the initiative this year to get the students at the local school, Philo-Hill Magnet School, to help out by uses the bags as canvases to create environmentally-friendly messages and images to show their customers. Students of the seventh and eighth grades joined forces to create eco bags that were then brought back in-store and welcomed customers to use them instead of their original bags.

Many of these students already have their own ways to help the environment and community with self-made projects. In fact, one of the students has organised a community project to go around the local area collecting rubbish. Another pupil has begun planting oak trees in the local park.

With many companies moving towards the paper bag instead of plastic carrier bags, it is great to see brands like the Food Lion using initiatives like this one to help improve the planet.

The post Earth Day Celebrated With Paper Bags appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

Why are so many supermarkets now offering reusable canvas bags at the till alongside plastic bags? Why are many politicians and campaigners seeking to impose fees on plastics, or ban them altogether? Simply put, they’re a massive environmental nightmare. Each of us use dozens of plastic bags every month, usually collected when we go shopping. With a bit of luck some of these bags might get one or two further uses before they get chucked away. And when they are, they end up in landfill, hopefully.

A plastic bag can take up to 1000 years to photo degrade, and as it does so it disintegrates into millions of tiny plastic-y particles, many of which work themselves down into the earth and water, contaminating our food and drink, and that of the animals we eat. It’s an unpleasant thought.

Worse still though is the number of discarded bags that find their way into the seas and oceans. There they become a serious health hazard for all kinds of animals, especially turtles, which mistake them for jellyfish and swallow them, clogging up their insides.

Paper bags, while better in this respect, can still take many years to degrade and take up a lot of space in landfill. That’s why reusable canvas bags are such a good idea. Sturdy, water-resistant and often available in attractive designs, they can be used hundreds of times before they need to be replaced. Looked after well, they keep unpleasant plastics out of the environment. At supermarkets you’ll still have to pay a small amount for them, but you soon will have to for plastic bags too, and given that canvas bags usually hold 2-3 times as much as plastic ones, it’s a good financial move.

Remember that you should wash your canvas bag out regularly, especially immediately after carrying raw meat or fish in it, as there is the slight chance of getting food poisoning, much as you would want these items separate from other foods in the fridge. And of course canvas bags only really benefit the environment if you actually manage to use them, so keep them in the car boot or by the front door to remind yourself!

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We can’t help you prevent from getting some things in the mail, but the following will reduce a lot of your junk mail that you receive. This of course reduces the number of trees needed to create these unwanted mailings.

Contact the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service (MPS). You must re-register after five years.

Register for the Mail Preference Service by mail. Send a letter plus a $1 check or money order to:

Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
PO Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

Click here for a simple mail-in form, www.privacyrights.org/Letters/jm1a.htm.

When you register, your name and address are placed in a do not mail file which is updated monthly and distributed to DMA members quarterly. DMA members are required to update their lists at least quarterly, and some do it monthly. Businesses who are not members of the DMA also take advantage of this do not mail list, so registering with the DMA will reduce much of your junk mail.

Register online

You may also sign up online at the DMA’s website. There is no fee for online registration. Visit: www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist. DMA says this option is quicker than by postal mail.

Register names of deceased

The Direct Marketing Association also gives you the ability to register the names of deceased loved ones with their Deceased Do Not Contact Registration at: https://www.ims-dm.com/cgi/ddnc.php. Click on the Continue button at the button of the page to get to the form.

The post Stop Junk Mail and Save Some Trees appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

Recycling is something we should all be striving to do to protect our environment – no matter what age we are. Whilst it’s easy to understand the importance and benefits of recycling as adults, kids sometimes don’t understand why we’re doing it, or what the point of recycling is. That’s why it’s important to keep them interested and engaged with the task so they actively want to participate.

Basically, it’s a good idea to come up with fun recycling ideas for kids, from games to competitions or hands-on tasks, so that they see the good side of doing it. Here are just a few examples of some fun ways to recycle with your kids:

Make toys and figurines

One of the easiest ways to get recycling with your kids is to make things out of things you’ll have lying around the house, which you would otherwise throw out. Toilet roll tubes are the easiest to collect, and things like egg cartons, yoghurt pots, cereal boxes and milk cartons can all come in useful. Why not make a rocketship or vehicle with the kids, cutting and pasting bits of these recyclables and helping the kids paint and decorate their creations.

Create games

One of the easiest games you can make is a jigsaw puzzle. This can be made from a cereal box, preferably one with cute characters your kid loves. Simply draw on jigsaw shapes and then cut accordingly to create a game your child can play over and over again.

Another great game to make is bingo. Simply use paper or recycled card to make bingo cards – you can even use bottle caps as markers instead of bingo daubers, meaning you can re-use cards over and over again. Play traditional bingo and help your kids with numbers and memory, or instead draw recyclable items on the cards so they learn more about the process of recycling as they play.

Make instruments

A fun way to teach your kids about recycling and music at the same time would be to create some homemade instruments. A sweetie jar or tin can easily become a drum, whilst adding lentils to an empty soda bottle will turn it into a maraca or rainmaker. If you want to get more creative, you could tie rubber bands around a tissue box and stick a toilet roll tube on the end and – voila! – you have a guitar!

There are of course many more fun recycling ideas which you can participate in with your kids, however these are three of the easiest and most common things to take part in. If you’re feeling more adventurous, why not make things from paper mache or set up a recycling scavenger hunt with prizes at the end? Either way there’s loads you can do to make recycling fun with kids, all you need to do is look differently at the things you might otherwise throw away.

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No, in order to have a green Halloween doesn’t mean you have to dress up to look like Al Gore or a tree hugger. That would just be a little weird. You and whatever you dress up as can be green at the same time.

Below are ways to have a safe night and also give a treat to the environment.

• make costumes out of recycled and/or reused materials; you can be clever and make use of clothes you don’t wear that are in your closet now
• email Halloween party invitation instead of paper invitations
• use reusable bags for the candy (e.g. canvas bags, pillow cases)

• buy pumpkins and apples and anything you can from local markets; have healthier choices for the trick or treaters – nutritional data for popular Halloween candy
• use only organic food in your Halloween meals; organic is food grown with no pesticides, no fertilizers, no antibiotics and no artificial hormones
• walk, don’t drive if possible
• wear light colored clothing and something reflective
• plant a tree; autumn is a great time to plant just about anything

www.greenhalloween.org

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It is that time of the year again. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and there is plenty to do in anticipation of this wonderful holiday. It won’t be long before Halloween and then before you know it, Christmas is upon us! But unfortunately there is a down side to all this celebrating. Did you know that the EPA has estimated that in the USA, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, 25% additional tons of waste is generated every week? This amounts to 25 million tons of extra waste.

Alarmed? You should be.

There are plenty of ways you can be eco-friendly and still throw the Thanksgiving party of the century. All you need to know is a few simple dos and don’ts.

Dos

1. COMPOST THE ORANGIC SCRAP

There is always a lot of food wasted at parties because not everyone eats everything on their plate. By the end of the party, you will definitely find yourself with a lot of organic garbage that has nowhere to go. Don’t put it in the bin. Compost it instead. It will make a huge difference to landfills and the environment in general if families decide to compost their organic waste instead of throwing it away. Put out bins marked “Feed me with your scrap!” so people can dispose of their leftover food conveniently.

2. RECYCLE BEVERAGE CANS

It’s a party. No matter how small it is, there will be beer or soda, if nothing else. What do we do with the empty cans? Recycle them of course! At your party you can put out bins for empty beverage cans which will make collecting them a lot easier. Scrap metal recycling has become incredibly convenient today. Almost every locality will have at least one metal scrap yard, if not more. And every city in the United States is laced with plenty of scrap metal recycling centers. Sims Metal Management, for instance, a leading recycler, has locations in over 17 states across the country. If you have an outlet in your vicinity, all you need to do is give them a call. Most recyclers also have a pickup service, so you don’t have to worry about carrying all your metal trash to the scrap yard.

3. GREEN DECORATION

We often want to decorate our homes with cute little knick knacks and fancy lighting. However, did you know that most of these cute little knick knacks are manufactured after going through various chemical processes? It leaves quite the carbon footprint. Be careful to select decorations that are made with consideration for the environment. You will find plenty of these online. Silentsprings.com is a great website for all kinds of eco friendly party ideas. You can also make your own decorations with junk that you don’t need at home; turn it into something of a family project.

Lights are okay to use as long as you reuse them and don’t buy new ones every time you want to decorate. Also, be careful to buy lights that don’t suck up the entire neighborhood’s power supply. Just saying.

Don’ts

1. SAY NO TO DISPOSABLE CROCKERY

When we say party, you would automatically picture a house full of people holding red paper beverage cups, and plastic plates with plenty of finger food. Typically, at the end of the party, the hosts are in no condition to sort out the trash and clean the cups to reuse or recycle them. All the trash just goes into a large garbage bag and finds itself out on the curb. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the harmful effects of excessively using disposable crockery. Even if they are paper and not plastic, at the end of the day, the volume of waste generated is massive.

2. STORE BOUGHT TURKEYS ARE BAD!

Thanksgiving turkeys are usually injected full of chemicals (that we don’t even want to know the names of) to make them bigger and to make them grow faster. They are also fed grains that are laced with arsenic (yes, arsenic) to make their flesh nice and pink. Granted, not all turkeys are fed arsenic, but most that come from large production farms and are sold in bulk to grocery stores should best be avoided. Try to buy locally grown (or bred) food or try a chicken this Thanksgiving!

3. BOYCOTT PAPER INVITES

There is a lot that goes into manufacturing one invitation card. Trees have to be sacrificed to provide the paper, chemicals are used to provide the colored ink, trees are sacrificed again to provide the paper for the envelope, and finally, putting all this together in a factory has ten other repercussions altogether. So, say NO to paper invites. Take advantage of social networking and send e-invites instead. You can create your own e-invite at zazzle.com or buy them at evite.com.

A green Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be a boring or less delicious one. Follow these 3 simple dos and don’ts, and you should have a fun, guilt-free holiday celebration knowing that you have done your bit to protect the environment this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The post Green Thanksgiving: Let’s Give Back the Planet Its Original Color appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

Did you know that a toner cartridge for your office printer could take roughly 1,000 years to decompose?  Recycling 100,000 toner cartridges saves 9,599 kilograms of aluminum, 40 tons of plastic and 1,000,000 liters of soil. Toner cartridges are just one item that you can start recycling today. Take some time to look around your office and start thinking about ways you can cut down your carbon footprint.

Courtesy of: Quill.com

The post Infographic: GreenHab the Office appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

So your small business is thriving, you’re taking on new customers and you have a renovation planned in the works. Unfortunately there is one drawback and that is the size of your workspace. A small workspace can be a blessing at times when it comes to having staff meetings, ensuring that everyone is happy and aware with monthly targets, conducting quick discussion votes and so on, however you are severely limited by what you can fit into your small office space.

As you start the plans and designs for your new office renovation, it is important to take into account any space saving design ideas you can think of to ensure that you get the very best use of the space you have available. If you are ever stuck for ideas or unsure about a certain renovation, you can always put a vote to your employees of encourage a suggestion box as they may have a solution that you had not considered.

Overhead Storage

Many offices do not make efficient use of potential overhead storage, but in reality when you have a small office you need to make the best use of all the space you have. Wall cabinets and tall bookshelves make great storage for folders and files, for design offices or offices that need to keep a physical copy of all their files for a certain period of time. Even smaller effects such as shelves or magnetic boards to hold memos, pencils and pens etc. can contribute to the organisation of an otherwise cluttered office. Look into slim line bookshelves and other minimalist storage savers, or ask a professional designer for advice.

Go Digital

In this day and age more and more businesses are switching towards ‘completely digital’ systems, where there is no need for physical paperwork, and although it is often some comfort to older businesses to keep physical records of your work, it would certainly free up a lot of storage space. In certain professions you are required to keep documents for a certain amount of time by law, but often you can severely limit your physical paperwork use to the bare essentials.

If you already have a wealth of records in a physical copy, why not scan your library to an external hard drive, where you can back it up as you wish and store the entire database in one place? You’ll still have proof of the records and it will mean that far less space is taken up using folders and filing cabinets in order to sort the paperwork, as it will all be on one hard drive.

Standing Desks with Laptops

This is ideal for an office where you have a number of part time workers, or too many workers for each to have his or her own desk space. A standing desk is a new trend within offices that combines the everyday work with a casual ‘exercise routine’ that helps to break up the normal monotony of a working day. The purpose of a standing desk is that it is part of a rotation in offices where there is not enough space for all the employees to have a permanent desk. The standing desk acts as a ‘hot desk’ of sorts, whereby one person would use it one day and then swap with another employee the next.

It is becoming increasingly common for employees to work typical 9-5 desk jobs with only sporadic toilet and tea breaks. Therefore a standing desk is an interior designers ‘solution’ to the fear that we are spending more and more time sitting at our desks.

All in One Computers

All in one computers do exactly what it says on the tin. Instead of having a separate monitor, tower, speakers etc. the ‘body’ of the PC is packed in with the monitor. This means that the monitor is a little thicker than normal, but it does free up valuable desk space where the tower would normally be. There are also various all in one computers that are touch compatible, meaning you won’t even need to use a keyboard or mouse as it will all be available there on the monitor! Remember to keep your overall theme in mind when renovating your office. Space saving design ideas are great, but if you spend every waking moment on your plans trying to fill every nook and cranny, you may lose sight of the style and substance of your renovation in the first place. Everything in moderation and remember to always go with what works best for your office environment, not what looks flashy and impressive at the time.

Mike James
Content Editor
www.whiteleys-office.co.uk

The post How to Capitalise on Space in a Small Office Space When Renovating appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

Even though seed paper has been used in the United States since 1941, I personally have only just heard about it! After reading many articles online, I decided to make my own and spread the word about this amazing eco friendly paper. The amount of trees still been cut down to produce paper is astronomical, lord knows why companies don’t just swap to create handmade seed paper instead, leave mother nature alone and start giving back to her, us humans have taken enough from her over the last couple of centuries.

What is seed paper?

Exactly the same question I asked myself when talking about the subject of paper waste online with a few friends. After doing some research I realised seed paper had only just made it across the waters to Europe and is now used on the consumer market and events industries. Seed paper can be bought in many shapes and sizes, they also come as greetings cards and wedding invitations, to see some styles and what more seed paper has to offer, visit Bloomin, they have a wide variety available.

Seed paper is exactly what it says on the tin, it is handmade paper that has seeds in that you plant, which in turn sprouts into any wide variety of flowers depending upon the manufacturer the paper is 100% biodegradable and completely green, some seed papers even contain vegetable seeds which you can see here (In germination from the paper itself):

Image Credit

Seed paper can serve more than one purpose…

As well as growing plants from the this fantastic product, it can also be used for it’s main purpose, paper! A lot of events companies have started using seed paper for events and invitations, this is just some of the things seed paper is used for:

• Wedding invitations – Not only will you have a spectacular day at the wedding but you can also remember the special occasion by having some colourful flowers on your window right from the invitation itself.

• Get well soon – Buying flowers and a card for someone is known internationally, do something different and brighten up the experience, give them something to do to keep their mind off the sickness.

• Birthday card(s) – This one is a triple whammy, not only will you be providing them with a card, you will be saving the planet and they will also get an extra special gift once the flowers pop out.

We are wasters…

In the USA offices use 21.1 trillion sheets of paper per year, even to publish the new york times for the Sunday edition requires 75,000 trees alone! We are humans have got content and very lazy it seems. Seed paper does take a lot longer to produce and may cost a little more but the companies producing paper are in it for the profit margins and probably won’t budge until it is too late.

The amount of trees being cut down and the amount being replanted for the future are worlds apart in terms of figures. The lessening of paper usage was predicted back in 2013 due to the technological age, this did not happen, in fact it was quite the opposite and the figures have shot up in 2015!

Let that sink in…..

The post Seed Paper – Giving Back To Mother Nature appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

Many of us use invitations to invite friends and family to parties, weddings and other events. There is a much greener way to send out invites as opposed to using the normal paper / card method. As I am sat here typing this article more than 199 tonnes of paper has already been produced, you can imagine the amount of trees that is, to give you an idea, just to print one copy of the Sunday edition of the New York Times uses 75,000 trees. I was dumbfounded when I read those statistics!

The Use Of Seed Paper

Seed paper is a new “greener” way to send those invites out. This incredible paper can be planted in a plant pot once you are finished with it and it will grow into a beautiful plant you can put in your house or garden, here is an example of a fully grown plant from the seed paper:

It is unbelievable to think that these plants actually came from a piece of paper! The way I see it, using seed paper will do the job of inviting people to your event and also people will be left with a memory of it afterwards when the plant grows, giving back to mother nature.

Seed Paper Is Not Just Plain

I know what you are thinking, seed paper will just be plain with your writing on, well, you’re wrong! Seed paper comes in many shapes, sizes and designs, here is a few things that can be used for eco-friendly weddings:

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Here is the prime example of a seed paper card for a wedding, they may be a little more expensive but don’t forget, this is a paper that can do many things. For 50 of these cards you are looking at $75 which is $1.50 per card, you cannot put a price on saving the environment. There are literally thousands of designs to choose from when it comes to cards and some outlets allow you to create custom prints.

Green Wedding Favours

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Create a custom thank you message and place them into the wedding favours bag for your guests, what better way to say thank you than to give them their own personal message along with an environmentally friendly plant at the end of it, this is one way to keep the wedding printed in their minds when looking at the fully grown plant whether it be in the garden or the home.

There is also something called “Growfetti” which is confetti for the wedding that is thrown once the bride and groom leave the building they were married in, once thrown into the air the growfetti will get blown away via the the wind and eventually end up in the ground where the growing will take place and mother nature will do the rest.

Customise Your Own

Bloomin allow you to create your very own shapes, once such shape is the breast cancer ribbon which would be fantastic for fundraising and awareness.

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There are more than 100 shapes to choose from, you can even have the recycling sign, the dollar sign, an A+ sign and many more. The choices are literally endless!

The post The Green Way For Invitations appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

The holiday season makes us think of friends, family, gathering around the fireplace with a toasty warm blanket, and food. Holiday feasting is a big part of holiday culture in just about every tradition. And this year, “green” plays a big part in that — and we’re not just talking about table decorations or salads. We mean “green” everything when it comes to the holiday meal. Let’s take a look at all your options for crafting this year’s meal with the perfect balance health, social responsibility, and tastiness!

Go Organic

Whether your protein of choice is ham or turkey, it’s important to take your meat selection seriously. Since both are incredibly popular choices this time of year, you’ll see an even wider variety of options, including organic and cruelty free choices. An unfortunate truth about the meat industry is that many animals are factory farmed. This means they’re kept in inhumane conditions, corralled in small pens without much attention or care. They’re also often injected with growth hormones that make their muscles larger so the cuts of meat they produce are bigger. Not the most ideal situation.

Cruelty free and free range turkey and ham selections come from farms that have dedicated themselves to allowing their animals to roam in open fields with grass and sunlight. These animals are fed the kinds of foods and grains that are natural to their diet — allowing them to have far more humane lives. The meat is generally better for you as well since the animals  don’t contain potentially harmful growth hormones.

Keep It Local

When you’re thinking of which vegetables to serve up alongside your main course, local produce is a great way to keep things green this holiday season. Investing in local produce supports your local farmers and funds your local economy, minimizes the damages done to the environment by cross country or overseas produce transportation, and ultimately results in cheaper products for you and your family. Before you worry that you may be missing out on your staples like potatoes and onions, there are actually dozens of different varieties of each of these, as well as many other vegetables. Ask your grocer which kinds are local to your region and invest in purchasing those. Some markets specifically label produce that’s grown locally to make it easier for you to pick it out.

Reduce

Food waste is the second largest component of U.S. landfills, and our landfills are filling up quicker than our dumpers can keep up with. If you know you already serve more mashed potatoes than your family can tuck away, cut down the amount you make this year. Not only does this free up space in our landfills and allow that food to go to families that will actually eat it, it saves your family from having to deal with all the leftovers.

Another way you can minimize waste is by keeping an eye on the packaging materials that come with the foods you buy. Try to avoid packaging that contains plastics like baskets, stickers or cling wrap. Purchasing foods without any packaging at all, like most produce, is best; also, paper and cardboard products are biodegradable and are some of the most minimally damaging to our environment.

Reuse

After you’ve spent a full day in the kitchen, the last thing you want to do is a pile of dishes. This is what makes paper plates and throw-away utensils so tempting: you don’t have as much cleaning up to do after. Unfortunately this also has a huge negative effect on our environment. In addition to feeding into the large amount of food and packaging waste the holidays contribute to, it also contributes to the amount of non-biodegradable plastics being thrown into landfills. See if you can talk someone else in the family into doing the dishes this year to give yourself a break and save the environment in one fell swoop. It also gives you a chance to show off your best china for your guests.

Recycle

Whether you’re hosting a dinner or going somewhere else for your festivities this year, making a recycling option readily available is a great way to make your holidays just a little greener. If you’re hosting, put out a recycling bin and clearly label it so your guests know what kinds of things can be recycled. If you aren’t sure, call up your neighborhood’s home owners association and see about getting a list. Typically things like napkins, paper plates, plastic serve wear, even aluminum are all recyclable and can make a pretty significant dent in the amount of garbage you put out to the curb the next day. If the party isn’t at your house, ask your host about recycling options. If their neighborhood doesn’t have any, volunteer to take any wine bottles or cans to your local recycling center instead.

Skip the Paper Invitations

Getting a nice card in the mail is something we all look forward to, especially when it’s an invitation to a nice holiday dinner. But it also uses a fair amount of paper, not to mention the fuel used by the mailing service to send out those invitations every year. You can help do your part by sending out electronic invitations this year. Several online services allow you to create accounts with them and customize your invite, then all you need to do is enter the email addresses of your invitees and they do the rest of the work. Another benefit to sending electronic invitations is that your response rate is faster, allowing you to prepare for the proper number of guests with plenty of time to spare.

Author Bio: Miguel Bautista has been the owner of Ranka Lasting Greenery (Max Kaiser) for over 13 years. He is certified with both the AIA (American Institute of Architects) and ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects). Ranka is the next generation of decorative landscaping. This decorating solution is eco-friendly and practical, as it requires no water, no fertilizer, and no pruning. For more eco-friendly design tips, follow his blog.

The post Gobble Up The Green This Holiday Season …and we’re not just referring to salads appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

The amount of paper that is used daily in the United States is shocking.  Although not all of this paper is wasted, it is safe to say that some is. It is important for everyone to start thinking about their paper usage and find ways to decrease it. There are a variety of different activities that people and companies can start to do to decrease this huge number. Next time you grab a sheet of paper, ask yourself, is this necessary?

This infographic was made by Esker and details the amount of paper that is used in the United States, daily.

The post Infographic: How Much Paper is Used in the U.S. in One Day appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

E Christmas cards for business is an inexpensive and powerful yet efficient online marketing instrument that every firm should use to get benefit every year. If you are the owner of a business and never send Christmas cards, it is vital that you should start sending Christmas greetings this time.  If your firm has been sending Christmas cards in a traditional way in the past, you should try it with a tight budget this season.  It will give you an indirect way that is more valuable, successful and effective when it comes to contacting your customers or clients.

Christmas Ecard represents your business

Professionalism is the main focal point while sending cards; you want to represent in them what your company is about. It is better to implement the corporate colours, your company logo and relevant fonts in it. These cards are the extension of your business brand and message. Your customers and client should recognise it once they open the card. It makes them a reason to remember you.  Find the services of a supplier who understand the requirements of your company and give you a good answer. The Internet is the place where firms offer discounts and provide you a variety of corporate e-cards to select. You can ask for samples and see if they would personalise your cards with printed envelopes.

Planning with cautions

Once you have selected the company, it is better to place an order for two or three months of coming Christmas. In case, you place an order in November but do not order in the last week of this month, it will be quite risky. Due to overlapping orders from other firms, they charge high prices on late orders. Place your order early to enjoy good discount offer as well.

Next, you need to make a list of your customers or clients and make sure that you do not miss any. It is better to check your business list before sending these cards such as names; addresses might have changed.

It is very impressive to add personalised touch into your business e-cards. You can add company logo, the message and corporate vision of your company. When you sign these add some greeting note, make sure that everyone is celebrating Christmas, so you must be cautious with what you are writing. You can add general greetings to create warm feelings about your corporate.

A solid investment

In short, it is a time saving and profit generating investment to send Christmas e-cards to your clients and Christmas. It is a cheap way of your business promotion. Almost 50% businesses have been sending E Christmas cards for business every year. It will show good will and warmth. You should also ensure that you send these cards every year regularly that shows your care to your customers and clients. E Christmas cards for business are important as they something about your business.  According to many marketing experts, it is a key of good professionalism only if you choose the right business cards with warmth greetings.

The post E Christmas Cards For Business Works Like Effective Marketing Tool appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

Considering a global survey identified 53% of consumers prefer to purchase products or services from companies with a strong dedication towards environmental issues, it is clear the ideology of sustainability being ineffective cost-wise is a misconception.

Realistically, reusing even the simplest of equipment and supplies can provide any business, small or large, with the environmental responsibility they require to maintain a positive reputation. With this in mind, here are some solutions you can introduce to drive your business towards a greener and cheaper future:

Use Chlorine-Free Paper

Despite living in a world that revolves around technology, we sometimes still need to use paper. Although the majority of European paper manufacturers that used chlorine bleaching during their production process have been eliminated, a few still remain; despite chlorine gas being linked to cancer and air pollution.

Purchasing chlorine-free paper removes the harmful procedure of using chlorine gas to turn paper white and therefore reduces environmental damage. Look for paper produced from more sustainable substances like hemp, organic cotton or bamboo.

Decrease Printing Waste 

The average U.S. office worker prints 10,000 pages per year – more than the estimated 8,500 sheets produced per tree… Be honest, how often do you print a document only to realise one sentence or a URL has gone onto another sheet? Specialised software like Greenprint aims to reduce excess waste by recognising unused space and suggesting how the user can reduce it, thus decreasing paper usage.

It will also benefit your business financially, for Greenprint claims they reduce printing material costs by 17% and save you £69.00 annually per user.

Long-Lasting, Reusable Storage

The U.K. uses an estimated 12.5 million tonnes of cardboard/paper and 275,000 tonnes of plastic per year – both recyclable materials. However, plastic can take up to five hundred years to fully decompose and a mere 25% out of the 41% waste cardboard produces is actually recycled.

Whilst cardboard is a cheap and easily locatable favourite for storage, it gradually breaks overtime and will eventually have to be replaced – making it more costly than anticipated. To avoid spending your entire budget on boxes invest in sturdy, long-lasting and reusable packaging to keep your supplies both safe and organised.

Switch to Refillable Pens

On average, 240 million disposable pens that encompass toxic plastics and inks are sold in the U.K annually. Switching to pens with refillable ink cartridges will benefit the environment and also reduce your equipment expenditures, for replenishing ink cartridges is surprisingly cheaper than buying multipacks of pens.

For example – notorious pen manufacturing brand Zebra is more cost effective when refill packs are purchased at £1.88 in comparison to a multipack of pens priced at £5.19.

Banish Personal Bins

For the sake of avoiding a walk to the kitchen, does every employee really need an individual bin? Implementing a central location for all rubbish will prevent employees from throwing recyclable and non-recyclable waste together. Try organising bins into separate categories (e.g. plastic, paper, rubbish etc.) to create an effective recycling system whilst reducing further rubbish facilities and therefore costs.

Enhance Natural Lighting

Businesses that operate during daytime have the perfect opportunity to optimise daylight and ultimately reduce their energy bill. Also, sitting at a computer all day with inadequate lighting will result in eyestrain and poor work ethic, drastically decreasing your productivity.

Relocate or rearrange your office so all employees have an even distribution of natural lighting to decrease the need for artificial lighting, allowing you to turn off the switch and save money.

Automatic Shut-Down Devices

At the end of another working day, the majority of us dislike having to switch our computer off before leaving the office as it saves time for the next day. This convenience definitely fails to save energy, for the costs amounted from standby power can easily reach into the thousands and add an additional 10-15% onto your carbon footprint.

According to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), U.K. businesses used a shocking 181,556 GWh of electricity in 2013. Furthermore, the average annual electricity bill for micro, small and medium businesses are:

Micro – £1,349

Small – £2,566

Medium – £4,280

Purchasing automatic shut-down devices will force your I.T. equipment to turn off outside of working hours; thwarting any employees from trying to leave their computer on despite your new rules and reducing your carbon footprint overtime.

Alter Printer & Photocopier Settings

Admittedly printers and photocopiers are necessities for most business, the problem doesn’t arise from owning them however, but the way in which they’re used; causing serious environmentally negative consequences.

Setting default printing to double-sided will reduce waste/usage and the amount invested on paper. For photocopying, limit the amount of photocopier usage per staff members and encourage using the scanner and writing emails instead.

No Screensavers

Overall, screensavers possess no requirement other than to make your desktop look pretty; which consequently leaves a hideous dent that feeds your energy bill. A study conducted by the University of New Hampshire identified: “if an organisation has 5,000 PCs that run twenty hours a week, the yearly power consumed by those screensavers accost for 750,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, 5,858 pounds of sulphur oxide and 1,544 pounds of nitrogen oxide”.

Banishing screensavers will significantly lessen energy consumption through improving your carbon footprint whilst increasing your reputation as a sustainable business and decreasing monthly energy costs.

Have a Recycling Scheme

For bigger organisations, establishing a new system for all employees to follow can be a complex procedure when some aren’t aware or fail to understand the reasoning behind the changes.

Create a recycling scheme that uses SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, reachable and timed) aims and objectives – for example increase recycling rates of paper by 30% within the next three years). Hold regular meetings for all employees to discuss whether the targets have been met and possibly introduce a reward scheme for extra motivation.

The post Creating a Greener Business – Is It Possible? appeared first on Ways2GoGreen Blog.

Cards are a great way of showing the business associates and others in the corporate circle that they are remembered and thought of. It remains one of the most popular ways of communicating during the holiday season and coveys ones wishes and regards in the best manner. With the introduction of the online greeting cards, it is now easier to send and receive cards through the internet. The business companies of all sizes can now make use of the web based companies that develop and provide e-cards according to the needs of the various organizations. The companies can select to personalize their e-cards to add a touch of uniqueness to the business cards they wish to send on various occasions. The organizations can hire the services of these companies according to their preferences and budget.

One of the most reliable company offering the e-cards to the business organizations of all sizes is the ecardshack.com. This company offers impressive e-cards for the businesses and their clients at very reasonable rates. The benefit of sending e-cards over the traditional paper cards transforms into lesser costs which is offered by the company to its customers in the form of better value for money. All that the business organizations have to do is register an account with the E-card Shack. The process of registering an email account is simple and time efficient which allows the customers to;
1. Save their e-cards for later use
2. Edit and personalize the e-cards
3. Purchase e-cards
4. Send e-cards to customized recipient list etc.
To offer maximum ease to the customers, the E-card Shack accepts online payments from their customers. This means less hassling and ease of access to the e-cards in no time. In order to ensure fool-proof safety of the online money transactions all payments are managed through secured payment gateway. Almost all major credit cards are accepted at the E-card Shack and the payment is expected only upon completing a certain task/project. The composers and developers of the e-cards at this company understand the importance of branding and thus, specify strategic space for the logo and other such elements in their designs. The website explains the customers how they can;
1. Email e-cards to themselves using regular email addresses
2. How to use a CRM or bulk mailing tool for sending the purchased e-cards and other related issues
For more guidance and assistance regarding the business e-cards at the E-card Shack the individuals can go through the video tutorials that the company has uploaded and provided links to. These tutorials will help them at every step of the way when it comes to using and sending the e-cards.

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