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Staying Green, Clean, and Safe with Public Transportation

One of the biggest reasons that people opt away from taking public transportation is that they feel that it is unsafe and dirty.  However, choosing to ride the bus, train, or subway can mean substantial monetary savings as well as make a big difference in how much negative impact a person has on the environment.  It can also free the person up to do small tasks on the way into the office, rather than he or she being tied to the wheel for the entire commute.  With there being so many wonderful reasons to ride the rail (or other form of public transit), it simply makes sense to consider the best ways to take extra precaution and safe guard against thievery and germs before hopping aboard.  The truth of the matter is that one can ride any one of these public vehicles and remain perfectly intact, as long as he or she does a little preventive maintenance.  This article addresses five things that all individuals should consider before buying the next ticket.

Take Advantage of What Science Has to Offer Cleanliness is a very hard thing to accomplish during cold and flu seasons.  Even the less sickly months have many illnesses that could make work, family, and even those few minutes of fun impossible.  While this should not deter you from riding public transportation, it should be a reminder to respect the fact that thousands of hands may be touching those same surfaces every day.  Fortunately, science and manufacturers have brought us several wonderful products lately to help us battle germs and infection.  First and foremost is antibacterial gel.  These little bottles or wipes are wonderful for killing anything that might get on your skin while riding with all of those other passengers.  Simply squeeze a dab on your hand and rub in, or use a wipe to clean your skin and the surfaces that you must touch.

Another group of great items on the market today are those vitamins, minerals, and medications that are used for preventative measures.  Flu shots, high doses of calcium, and the use of a daily multi-vitamin can really do wonders for your immune system and make that travel a little less worrisome.

Dress Down Fine.  Maybe you work in an office where the words “dress down” are rarely, if ever uttered, but that doesn’t mean that you need to or will want to showcase your status on the bus, train, or subway.  Doing so could make you a sitting target for thieves.  Rather than wearing your finest clothes when climbing on board, perhaps you would be better off wearing jeans, sneakers, and hiking shoes until you get to the office, and then changing into the suit, tie, and Rolex or skirt, blouse, and Pradas.  You can look great all day long and still do your part to save the world each morning and night.  Given the explanation for why you are doing what you are doing, who could argue?

People Watch This might be an activity that has gotten people in trouble in the past, but it is essential when travelling with hundreds of other passengers.  This doesn’t mean that you need to consistently stare at those closest to you, but it might be wise to take a quick peek at the other passengers.  Instincts play a big part in keeping a person safe, and if another person’s actions are causing you concern, then it might be best to stay away.

Travel Light, but Carry a Few Extras In a previous section, changing at the office was suggested.  However, it is probably best to leave that change of clothing in your office rather than carting it along in a big bag.  Try to keep your load light, so you can get easily in and out of the vehicle.  The harder it is for you to get around, the more likely it is that you will get injured, run late, or become a target of the thief in the crowd.  Not to mention the fact that you are far more likely to get discouraged with public transportation if you are forced to lug fifty extra pounds through stations and the two blocks to your office.  Make it easy on yourself and the commute can be enjoyable and far safer.

Plan Ahead and Leave Early Another fear of public transportation is scheduling.  It is rare that one can find a boss that doesn’t mind him or her being late to work.  For this reason, it is important to ensure prompt arrival.  That is most easily achieved if one takes the time to plan the route ahead of time and learn the exact timeline of the transportation.  It is also good to have a backup plan in case a bus doesn’t arrive on time, or the subway is so jammed with people that you can’t catch the first car.  Because we all know that this can happen, especially in situations of bad weather or large accidents, it is always best to leave early.  If you have to be to work at 9:00, then plan on being there at 8:45.  This allows a few extra minutes for travel and worst case scenarios, and your boss will be impressed at your dedication to your job.

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Posted by rudyhadisentosa - June 5, 2011 at 6:15 pm

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How to Start a Recycling Movement in Your Office

Sometimes you can’t just wait for someone else to take the initiative. Sometimes you have to get up and put out the recycling bins yourself.

If you want to start a recycling movement in your office, start by gauging how others will receive the movement. Though it is important that they see you standing up to do it, you don’t want them seeing it as only because it is “the thing to do because everyone says so.” Figure out everyone’s stance on it, and go from there. Find out who are like minded with you, and see about getting them to help. Learn where the closest recycling centers are. Do they come by and pick up the recyclables, or will you need to take it to them? Do they charge a fee? Many stores offer recycling programs, so you just have to take a look around and see what is available.

Talk to the authorities in the office, and see if they would be open to having recycling bins placed around the area. Start with something simple. Do you use a lot of paper? See about a bin for paper. Do your coworkers throw away several soda cans during the course of the week? Go that route; start with one thing, and work your way up. If you are lucky, other coworkers will be enthusiastic and start wondering about recycling plastic bottles, glass, paper, and aluminum.

In order for this to work, though, you (and your like-minded coworkers) may have to volunteer to remove the recyclables weekly. However, this will be a small price to pay if the recycling movement takes hold. Even if other coworkers are not interested in taking a huge part of the recycling movement, if it is just as easy- if not easier- for them to recycle an item rather than trash it, you will soon see recycling taking a larger part of the office life. Consider placing recycling bins closer to the offices than the nearest trashcan. Offer to sort plastics from aluminum cans if they do the recycling. Or, if your nearest recycling center offers it, you may have the incentive of earning a few bucks going to the company or privileged employee if they recycle enough of the designated product.

Recycling is an important part of reducing landfill waste. In addition to that, when items are recycled, the cost of the products made from recycled goods goes down. Raw goods are needed in smaller quantities, helping to save you money. Not to mention, it is relatively easy to set up three small bins that contain paper, plastic, or aluminum. Though it may take some practice in order to remember to throw the pop can in with the aluminums and not with the trash, it is a good step accompanied by a pleasant feeling of having done some small part to help out your community and the environment as a whole. The more recycling that takes place, the less unpleasant hills of landfills you have to look at while traveling out of town.

Another step you can take to help reduce the amount of trash going in the dumpster is to start a compost pile if you have the space. This not only replenishes dirt so that you can grow pretty flowers, a berry bush, or other plants, but it also provides a way to get rid of those eggshells, dead flowers, rotted vegetables, and the sandwich you forgot you had in the fridge. It does not have to be a complete loss. Also consider buying such items in smaller quantities. Are you really going to use that nifty thing-a-ma-bobber? Or is it going to be found in the trash can during the next spring cleaning? Save money by holding off on such purchases, along side of helping reduce the trash produced in the average week.

Regardless of whether you succeed in starting a recycling movement in your office, you can always do this at home. Even if you only take out the recyclables every couple of weeks, or even if you have to travel a couple of extra miles to have the items recycled, it greatly reduces the amount of trash you see in the landfill. This is also a great way to see just how much you and your family do consume over the course of time. Challenge children to realize just how much of that sweet soda they have been drinking, or challenge your coworkers to seeing just how many needless e-mails they print off in the course of a week. Not only is this an eye-opener, but it also helps people to see just how much trash is really going into the dumpster, and how much of that can be reused. Recycling allows you to see just how much is really there, rather than it being a mindless task done on a regular schedule.

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Posted by rudyhadisentosa - June 4, 2011 at 3:47 pm

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Don’t Print Items from Your Computer Unless Absolutely Necessary

The environment is an important part of our lives. It creates the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the place we live in. Though it has been contested back and forth how much of a part humans play in shaping their environment, it is clear that the more waste we put in a landfill or the more pollution we add to the air, the more we negatively impact both our health and the health of our plants, animals, and waterways. If you want a place that is enjoyable to live in for generations to come, there are a number of small things you can do that will help out the environment. If you and other people do your part to create as little waste as possible, the less you will be adding to the landfills, and there will be more room for nature or for living.

One of the ways you can reduce waste going into landfills is to try not to print items when viewing them on your computer unless it is absolutely necessary. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s web site, more than a third of recycled items in the United States were paper in the year 2006. Nearly 85 million tons of paper is used in the USA every year. Considering that only 44 million tons of paper was recycled, there is still a large quantity of paper items that are being thrown away and added to landfills.

Aside from remembering to recycle paper when possible, the best way to reduce paper consumption is not to print the paper at all. If you’re using your computer and want to print an email, a document, or something from the internet, ask yourself first if you really NEED to.  If not, don’t do it, and prevent some paper from ending up in a landfill.

When it comes to purchasing books, there are many electronic readers now available, and ebooks are considerably cheaper for the consumer to buy and for a publisher to produce. Also with ebooks, multiple copies can be retained, allowing you to have a backup that you might not otherwise have. Many ebooks can be stored on one electronic reader, so it makes carrying these books hassle free, particularly if you often travel.

Another way to save paper is to print double-sided. If you are printing off sheets to review an essay, report, chart, or other piece, then you can print on both sides of the page without worrying about someone else seeing it in presentation. This also saves considerable amounts of money, as a one hundred page report is suddenly only fifty pages of review. If possible, do as much editing on your monitor as you can. Do spell checks and a preliminary overview before actually printing off anything. This prevents the cost of multiple drafts being printed, though it is understandable that at some point you are likely to need to print off a copy to catch what the eye cannot see on a screen.

If you need a backup of your work, there is more than one way to approach this. While it may be nice to have a hard copy in paper and ink, it may not need to be in complete formal presentation, allowing you to print on both sides of a page and cut out large chunks of empty space. Other paperless options include putting it on a CD or DVD and clearly labeling it, or placing it on an external hard drive. Because these allow you to back up more than one paper at a time, it will save you considerable space in filing and archiving.

Lastly, there are some items that just don’t need to be printed. As mentioned above, not every e-mail needs to be printed. You can forward notes to coworkers, and save e-mails in a separate Word document when you get an important one. Have a favorites list of recipes you found on the internet and bring your laptop to the kitchen. This way you aren’t sorting through an infinite list of dog-eared pages just to find that one chocolate chip cookie recipe. Consider using digital photo frames rather than huge print collections.  For scratch paper, use junk mail and the envelopes they came in, or use the back of your kids’ coloring sheets.  There’s no need to go out and buy Post-It Notes or use a full sheet of blank paper; just look around and you are sure to find something you can write on when necessary.

Though there will be times when you still need to print various items or when you still have the stubborn coworker or boss who wants the printed page, you can greatly reduce your amount of paper consumption. Ask yourself – do you really need that in printed form? Or will it do to read it on a monitor? Though it may not be much, every little bit you do helps the environment, and the more people who do little things, the greater the benefit to the planet.

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Posted by rudyhadisentosa - June 3, 2011 at 8:45 am

Categories: Green Office   Tags:

10 Easy Steps to Going Green at Work

One way to boost business is by showing your local community that you care. When you go green, you are not only helping the environment, but you also save space, time, and energy. In order to cut down on air pollution, consuming less energy results in less coal being used to fuel power plants, as well as less demand, more supply, and cheaper prices in the end. Recycling lowers the amount of trash going to landfills and brings down the cost of goods that would normally use more raw materials if recycled options weren’t available. And overall, going green can give everyone in your business a sense of pride of having done something, however small, to help out the world. Even the little things count, because if everyone does something little, at the end of the day a major accomplishment has been achieved.

Of course, if you don’t actually own the business, it may be trickier getting new initiatives set in place. But for the things you do have control over, every little thing counts.

On the larger scale of things, switching to more energy efficient lights, typically CFLs, can not only reduce your energy bill, but also the cost of purchasing new bulbs. They last longer and have a lower actual wattage than incandescent lamps, while still retaining the same level of brightness. Be prepared for a color shift, however, as CFLs are generally in the range of daylight lighting rather than the yellow, warm lighting of incandescents. Motion sensors are another way to reduce the cost of energy when it comes to lighting. When a section of the building, be it a cubicle, hallway, or restroom, is unoccupied, motion sensors leave the lighting off unless someone present is detected.

However, if you can’t actually change out the light bulbs or install a motion sensor strip, you can still make sure your computer gets turned off when not in use. If you have a personal desk lamp in an individual office room, you can use that instead of the overhead light so that you can save energy. Who knows? By example, you may be able to convince other coworkers to do the same.

If you have your own individual printer or if you are in charge of the printers of your workplace, look for ones that allow you to print on both sides of the paper. If they are automatically able to print double-sided, this can save both time and money spent on paper and ink. Also look for printers that use environmentally friendly ink, and recycle your ink cartridges. Some businesses will pay you for your cartridges, so consider this before throwing out the cartridge.

Don’t just recycle ink cartridges. Plastic, aluminum, and paper are in predominant need of being recycled. Set up smaller, separate bins in your office space to have for easy recycling, or talk to the management about having recycling bins placed in easy reach. You may want to offer to take turns taking the recyclables to the recycling center, or finding a place willing to pick them up from you. Beyond that, you can cut down the amount of recyclables. Get a sturdy water bottle to cut down on plastic containers and save money instead of buying expensive bottled water.  When it comes to paper items coming in at home, ask to have your bank statements and bills online, and search for companies that help get your name off of pesky junk mail lists. Only print off important e-mails, and back up your Word document files to CD or DVD rather than printing out huge stacks of paper. Not only does this save paper, it also saves space. Scan other important documents, then recycle the paper (shredding if needed). Use online forums and private web sites to transfer files and make it easy for other coworkers to review your work.

There are many ways to go green at work, so consider these ten steps:

1. Use energy-efficient lights.

2. Turn off unnecessary electric appliances when not in use. Unplugging them will save even more energy.

3. Take personal steps to start with, then show coworkers and management how they have helped with efficiency and the environment.

4. Make it easy to recycle. Offer to take out the recyclables, or put up separate bins in your office.

5. Recycle ink cartridges. Some businesses pay money or store credit for these.

6. Look for environmentally friendly printers. Double-sided printing is a major plus.

7. Save Word files to CDs and scan in other papers. This saves your paper money and office space.

8. Use fewer individually wrapped products. Say no to bottled water and hello to filtered water in a sturdy bottle.

9. Have bank statements posted online. Get off of junk mail lists.

10. Make documents easy for coworkers to see via private online web sites; this saves paper and time searching through stacks of documents.

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Posted by rudyhadisentosa - June 2, 2011 at 10:44 pm

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What is a Carbon Footprint?

Anyone who has the slightest interest in the environment, global warming, or green lifestyles has heard the phrase “carbon footprint.” But what exactly does that term mean? At a time when experts are saying that reducing our carbon footprint is essential to our continued survival on a clean livable planet, it is important to know exactly what it is that we are working toward and what we need to do to keep ourselves and our planet healthy.

A simple definition

The carbon footprint has been defined by the UK carbon trust as “the total set of greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person.” Breaking it down to its elements, we can further define exactly what that means.

Greenhouse Gasses

Greenhouse gasses have received their name because of the effect that their production has on the atmosphere and the temperature of the planet. These gasses rise in the atmosphere and remain there. When the radiation of the sun penetrates our atmosphere, these gasses trap this radiation and keep it in the atmosphere. With the heat from the sun remaining in the clouds of these gasses, it does not dissipate and eventually the temperature of the atmosphere rises above previous levels, in essence raising the temperature of the whole planet. A plant greenhouse shows how this works. A glass structure covered with windows allows the warmth of the sun to enter, but not to escape. The temperature of the building becomes quite high, allowing plants to stay warm in colder weather. Clouds of greenhouse gasses act like those windows, trapping heat and not releasing it.

The problem with this phenomenon, called the Greenhouse Effect, is that the ecosystem of the planet requires the magnetic poles to be covered with ice. With the base temperature of our atmosphere rising due to greenhouse gasses, the ice on the poles begin to melt, causing oceans to rise, weather patterns to change, and any number of other effects that can detrimental to our safety and continued existence on this planet.

Greenhouse gasses are any of those gasses that remain in the atmosphere and trap radiation. They include water vapor, methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),  nitrous oxide,  ozone and carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is the primary component of these greenhouse gasses and the one produced most aggressively by human beings. Every time we exhale, we create CO2, but also every time we burn coal or fossil fuel or discard a product that begins to break down in the atmosphere, we produce this gas. The amount of CO2 we create can be traced like a footprint in our path, and that is where we get the name and concept of a carbon footprint.

What is your carbon footprint?

There are two measurements of carbon footprints, primary and secondary. A person’s primary carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide they produce individually. This is how much you exhale, how much fossil fuel you use to drive your cars, trucks and machinery, or how much you produce heating and cooling your house or multiple houses. There’s more though; secondary carbon footprints add to your total footprint by adding the amount of carbon dioxide produced by the goods and services you use. If you dine at a restaurant, your carbon footprint would count the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted to create that meal, the energy used to cook and store the food, the fossil fuels used to transport the foods from their origins to your plate, the energy expended to create the tables, chairs, napkins, glasses, condiments and all the other niceties used to create your meal and serve it to you in a manner to create a pleasurable dining experience – so pretty much everything associated with that meal is accounted for in your secondary footprint.

As mentioned previously, carbon footprints are not only applied to individuals, but also to organizations, events, and products. Your place of business has its own individualized carbon footprint, made up of the needs of the company to do business, such as heating the physical locale, keeping the electricity going (electricity creates a carbon footprint due to the materials needed to create it), keeping supplies stocked, keeping transportation moving to and from the business, etc. If you work in any kind of manufacturing, the creation of the product also leaves a footprint. Even events such as a football game have their own carbon footprint, caused by the transportation and comfort of thousands of people converging on a single area and consuming food and drink, as well as souvenirs and other services. An individual product also has a unique carbon footprint. A fast food burger can be traced to the resources used to feed and raise the beef, those that are used to grow and create the bun and vegetables used, and even the energy to create the paper products to package the burger and the energy needed to dispose of the waste.

We all create a traceable carbon footprint in all the things we do and in all the things we use in our lives. Being aware of this footprint is one of the first steps to going green.

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Posted by rudyhadisentosa - June 1, 2011 at 3:43 pm

Categories: General Misc   Tags:

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