Green Tips and Links

For Your Business:

Greening Your Business Saves You Money: 20 Tips to Green Your Company and Home Office

NETGEAR would like to help its customers create an enviornmentally friendly business environment. Reducing usage of company resources (paper, ink, turning off lights and equipment when not in use) and using energy efficient equipment makes good business sense, allowing you to save significant amounts of money. Here are 20 ways where you can Green your company and home office.

• Go for "Greener" options when you buy computers and networking equipment. Look for hte products that use lower energy, lower waste, fewer chemicals, and less overall packing material.
• Optimize the energy settings for your computers and other devices to use less energy. Set computers to energy-saving settings and shut them down when you leave for the day. Note the 'stand-by' settings continue to draw power even when they are not used.
• Buy power strips with an on/off switch so your entire desktop can be turned off at once.
• Print smarter and print on both sides of the paper or use the back side of old documents for faxes scrap paper, or drafts. Use color printing only when needed.
• Buy recycled paper that has a high percentage of post-consumer content and the minimum of chlorine bleaching. Extend this to the not only printing paper but all cleaning and lavatory supplies.
• Turn off lights when in areas that are not occupied or when you leave at night. Install motion sensors in conference rooms. Use Energy Star rated light bulbs and fixtures. When your traditional light bulb goes out, replace it with a much more energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb.
• Install thermostats that automatically reduce the temperature when you are not in the office and over the week-end. For non-automatic thermostats, manually turn down the temperature.
• Work electronically as much as possible. Keep your files on your computer instead of in file cabinets. Review documents onscreen rather than printing them out. Send emails instead of paper letters.
• Invest in videoconferencing and technology solutions to reduce the amount of employee travel.
• Position desks and workstations to make best use of natural lighting.
• Recycling counts. Make it a habit to recycle everything your company uses including printer cartridges, electronic devices, shipping containers, envelopes, cans and bottles, to name just a few. Recycle or reuse old office equipment including computers, printers, networking devices and cxell phones. There are many organizations that will take this equipment off your hands.
• Bring in your own reusable coffee cup to the office. When you bring your lunch in, use re-usable containers and bags.
• Provide filtered drinking water instead of bottled water to reduce bottled-water waste.
• Purchase office supplies and furniture made from recycled materials. Also purchase office products with a longer life such as solar powered calculators. Buy in bulk to save in shipping costs and reduce packaging.
• Use nontoxic cleaning products. Add plants to your office - they absorb indoor pollution.
• Distribute employee manuals and other materials online instead of giving out printed copies. Online documents are also easier to update.
• Encourage your employees to find alternative methods (besides driving) to get to work. Public transportation, carpooling, walking, biking, etc. are all valid choices. Look at possible offering the option of telecommuting.
• Give reusable items, such as mugs, to customers and prospects. If they buy 3 cups of coffee every workday for one year that equates to over 600 coffee cups that would have ended up in the trash.
• Make sure the water taps are closed. One drop wasted per second equals 10,000 liters per year.
• Spread the word. Every little bit helps in creating a green work environment.

Useful Links to Green Your Home Office or Business

• Earth2Tech – How to recyle your gadgets
• Office furniture made from recyled materials
• Information on how to recycle your computer
• General recycle information
• Donate old, but working computers:
  • www.sharetechnology.org
  • www.techsoup.org
  
  This may qualify for a tax deduction.

For College Students

Green Tips for College Students - And How to Save Money at the Same Time

There are many things t hat college students can do that will not only help the environment but also lower their overall living expenses. Small things add up whether it is your utility bills or overall expense budget. Here are 15 environmentally friendly tips to help you help the world and your wallet:

• Use power wisely. Turn off lights and unplug electronic devices that you aren't using including your phone, iPod and laptop chargers.
• Go for "Greener" options with you buy computer and networking equipment. Look for the products that use lower energy, lower waste, fewer chemicals, and less overall packing materials.
• Optimize the energy settings on your computer and other devices to use less energy. Set computers to energy-saving settings and shut them down when you aren't using them. Note that 'stand-by' settings continue to draw power even when they are not used.
• Buy power strips with an on/off switch so everything on your desktop can be turned off at once.
• When you need to print, print on both sides of the paper or use the back side of old documents for faxes scrap paper, or drafts. Use color printing only when needed.
• Buy recycled paper that has a high percentage of post-consumer content and the minimum of chlorine bleaching.
• Work electronically as much as possible. Keep your files on your computer instead of in file cabinets. Review documents onscreen rather than printing them out.
• Recycle everything. Bottles, cans, paper, newspaper, magazines, and old equipment. Check with your school to see what, where and when they pick up the material.
• Turn down the thermostat. Your can save 45% of your energy bill by lowering the thermostat 2 degrees and prevent 500 pounds of CO₂ from entering the atmosphere in a year. (www.grist.org)
• Minimize your use of paper products. They may seem easier than real plates, glasses and silverware but they add huge amounts of garbage to our landfills.
• Stop drinking bottle water. Use reusable coffee mugs and other non-disposable drink containers.
• Change the bulbs in your room and/or apartment to more energy efficient compact fluorenscent bulbs.
• Walk or bike, instead of driving, from one end of campus to another.
• Buy products with a longer life such as solar powered calculators.
• Get your friends to join in. If we all work together, we can not only help our environment but save money along the way.