What do you have in your office? A computer? A copy machine? A fax machine? In today's world, it is impossible to imagine any type of office without these time-saving devices that allow us to create, produce, and communicate. And what about a water cooler with those handy disposable cone-shaped cups, a coffee maker with a neat stack of styrofoam cups, or a mini refrigerator filled with individual soda pop bottles? Can we even imagine getting through the day without this “brain fuel?”

The Trend of Going Green
We have been graced, in the 21st century, with a plethora of consumer goods that make our work environment pleasant. In fact, most goods are no longer considered a luxury but an absolute necessity. However, all goods come with a price tag, and that price is not necessarily monetary. All products have some impact on the environment, which may occur at any or all stages of the product's life cycle: raw material acquisition, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal.

If you’ve at all been thinking about putting together your own green office, there are some statistics that very possibly could be the final determining factor for you. Paper, office supplies, and furniture that cannot be recycled account for a massive amount of materials that clutter landfills today.

Paper
In terms of putting together a green office, paper and paperboard is consumed in massive amounts each year. In fact, most of the paper we use in our offices today still ends up as waste. Simply creating the paper causes environmental problems, as toxic chemicals are released into the air making printing, copying, and writing paper. These emissions increase the pollution in the air and harm the respiration of those living around paper mills.

You can make your office greener by setting your copying machine to copy on both sides of every sheet of paper, by reducing standard-sized copying images to fit two documents on one sheet, and by reusing paper as scrap.

Office Supplies
Non-green offices hurt the environment by using and discarding many transparency films, single-use pens, printer cartridges, and clipboards.

A recent Green Report found that 1.6 million pens that can only be used once are used each year in just the United States. The report found that 15 million pounds of polyester transparency films are thrown away in the U.S. annually, and that if offices would remanufacture their ink cartridges, they would be saving about $1.5 billion each year.

If you focus on reusing office products and buying multiple-use products rather than single-use products, you can not only save money for your organization, but you can also do your part to help the environment. You can also do your part by buying office products that don’t have toxic solvents and products that can be remanufactured instead of taking up space in landfills.

Office Furniture
There are two main environmental issues with standard wooden office furniture and equipment. The first is that by simply creating the pieces of furniture, their construction is depleting the forest and mineral reserves. The second is that the manufacturing processes of making furniture pollute the air and our water supply through volatile organic compounds. In fact, by simply having the furniture sitting in your office, it may continue to discharge these compounds into the air.

You can help the environment by buying office furniture that meets indoor air quality standards for your state, that contains nontoxic materials and adhesives, and that is made from recycled plastics, paper, wood, and steel. You also want to look for manufacturers that emit a limited amount or no volatile organic compounds.

This article is courtesy of GreenOfficeStore.com.