Most of us spend a lot of time in our office but we neglect to think about the eco-friendliness of it. Offices consume a lot of energy and generate a lot of waste. Most people don't consider the environmental impact that their office activities have for some reason - perhaps because they feel that green living is part of their personal life that they want to keep separate from their work life? As a result, we spend a large part of our week contributing to global warming despite our efforts at home to reduce energy consumption and so on. If this strikes a chord with you, here are a few things you can do at your office that will help:

First, you can go paperless. Many people are turned off by the idea of online billing - fearing security. The truth is that online billing and banking is just as safe, if not safer, than the old fashioned "snail mail" method. A large part of identity theft occurs when people rifle through your trash and collect statements and other personal information. Electronic billing avoids this risk as well as unnecessary paper use and energy consumption/pollution from moving your bills from one place to another. You business can do electronic billing for all of the bills you pay and you can also try to convince your customers to sign up for paperless billing. If your computer software is up to date with protection and you keep it updated, you should be fine, and you'll save a ton of trees and energy. Plus, having all of your "paperwork" integegrated into a computer system that automates some of the extra work for you helps increase your efficiency and generates more productivity.

Second, you can save some energy by updating your electronics and appliances in your office. That is not to say you have to go out and but all new appliances and electronics. But, when replacing big electronics or appliances, make sure you opt for energy star rated devices which will save you money by consuming less energy. Also, switch out your lightbulbs to energy efficient CFLs when they burn out. Switching appliances and lightbulbs to more energy efficient models will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will also save you some money on your bills. Again, a win/win.

You can also implement a work at home program at your company. Home office equipment uses less energy and working from home eliminats the commute and associated pollution. If you have employees that are reliable and honest, you can cut down heavily on greenhouse gas emissions by allowing them to work from home a couple days a week. The key to success here is making sure you maintain an open channel of communication with employees that work at home. They will enjoy the flexibility and you'll enjoy cutting your electricity costs.

Finally, if you own and operate a retail store, begin selling or encouraging your customers to bring their own reusable shopping bags. Using reusable bags helps to eliminate the number of plastic bags thrown away and produced in the world. Plastic bags are slowly destroying our environment and their production consumes finite resources and pollutes the atmosphere. This is a simple way to make a big impact as well as educate your customers about the dangers that plastic bags present. Perhaps you'll change their mind as well.