How to reduce office waste and save money

Businesses across the UK create around 75 million tonnes of waste every year, not only a drain on the environment but on profits too. By taking few simple steps, office managers can reduce waste and make substantial cost savings in the day-today running of the office:

Computer Equipment

• Use modern technology to your advantage. Why send out marketing material in the post when it can be done more effectively by email? Not only are your collaterals more likely to reach the right person instead of just the bin, but you will also save money on paper, envelopes and postage
• Ensure that everyone switches off their computers at night. If computers are left on standby they still use 50% of the electricity they use when they're on

• Try to use energy efficient light bulbs - they are more expensive than ordinary ones but last eight times longer, use a quarter of the energy and give the same brightness. This could save more than £100 over the bulb's lifetime

• Paper is probably the biggest source of waste in most offices with the average office worker using up to 50 sheets of A4 every single day
• Set the printer to print on both sides of the paper by default. This will automatically reduce the amount of paper a business uses and will reduce paper costs
• Use recycled paper. Producing recycled paper involves between 28-70% less energy and it is cheaper to buy
• Use 80g paper sheets instead of thicker paper and avoid printing on ‘flash’ paper. Thicker paper is more expensive and the thicker the paper you use the more paper you waste

• Ask whether it is really necessary to print in colour for internal documents, it is nearly 50% cheaper to print a document in black and white
• Think about how you are going to dispose of the print cartridge. It might be more convenient to put it in the bin but it is far more resource efficient to recycle

• Cut down on water wastage and witness office water bills shrink by a massive 30%
• Ensure employees turn off taps fully – a 5mm stream of water wastes 528,000 litres of water each year, costing up to £705
• Fit a water displacement bag supplied free of charge by most water companies or simply place a 1 litre plastic bottle filled with water into the toilet cistern to reduce the amount of water per flush

• To encourage office managers to take the first step in becoming more resource efficient, Envirowise is inviting them to take part in One Bin Day
• On Tuesday 21st February 2006, Envirowise is asking businesses to restrict the availability of office bins for the day to help them identify wasteful habits and understand the benefits of changing their ways
• On One Bin Day participating firms will be asked to remove from the office all but one bin. This will have two effects:
  • It will remove the convenience of having a bin next to every desk, so staff will have to think about the way they deal with unwanted items, rather than simply dropping them into their own personal bins without a second thought
  • Secondly if staff stick to their normal routine, a single bin will quickly become full and overflow, creating a very visual illustration of the level of waste being generated on a daily basis