Environmentally aware is the latest buzz word. Now that the economy is starting to pick up, everyone is feeling a bit more optimistic. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore ways to save money, energy and carbon at your workplace.
If you work in an older building, such as a 1960’s built school, or 1970’s built office block, you know that your energy bills can be high. But no matter what kind of business you are, or building you work in, you can always cut down your energy use and energy bills. Becoming environmentally aware is the first step to lowering you overhead costs and going green.
The most obvious way is to use less energy. You don’t need to completely replace your lighting system or boilers there are many things you can do at work that are cheap, easy and effective.
Here are 4 quick and easy ways to save money:
- Do you walk around to find the lights are on but no one’s home, literally?
[1]Communicate to those in the office the importance of switching off the lights. If there are areas you need lights on constantly, put the most energy efficient bulbs in that you can each one can save you £60 per year. - Draughty windows and doors are wasting energy, literally heating the outside world. Use weather-proofing strips, film on any single-glazed windows, and try to insulate wherever possible. Just by fully insulating your roof-space can save you £200 per year in heating costs.
[2]Whatever type of business you work in, you probably have electrical equipment left on standby more often than you think. A computer left on 24 hours a day will cost you £50 per year to run turning it off at night and making sure you switch off the monitor reduces this to just £15 per year.- Photocopiers are also a huge energy-waster. Copiers left on overnight and at weekends can cost you up to £200 more per year than you need to spend. Also, don’t forget the cost of paper and toner reducing your printing, plus printing double sided copies can save you around £50 per year.
Many of these tips are easy to put into place, low cost and can save you hundreds of pounds per year. For more tips and quick calculators to show how much your organisation can save, or to find out about grants for businesses to make your workplace more energy efficient, visit www.carbontrust.com [3] or www.energysavingtrust.org.uk [4].
Go ahead, make 2014 a green year!