Green Challenges and More Tips!

So when I initially envisioned CarbonGage.org, I thought it would be great for its users to challenge one another by sharing their usage towards “green” competitions. Well, now it makes more sense to partner with a startup called CarbonRally. According to the site, “CarbonRally offers a series of carbon reducing challenges, such as not drinking bottled water, dumping shopping bags and leaving your car at home, whereby users can compete against others to become the most carbon friendly participant. Current users include Google’s offices in Boston and Pittsburgh who are openly aiming to beat one and other.” It is definitely worth checking out!

Have you ever wondered: is it out of convenience or habit that the styrofoam and paper cups that are used to hold our many drinks continue to dominate outside the home? Why don’t people simply bring a mug along with them?

According to True Green @ Work: 100 Ways You Can Make the Environment Your Business, “life cycle analysis shows that, over a mug's average service of 3,000 uses, the energy it takes to scrub it is the cause of 30 times less solid waste and 60 times less air pollution than the equivalent number of drinks from disposable paper or foam.” Just remember that those paper cups are using precious natural resources as well!

You may want to also use these tips (also provided by the book):

1.) Re-use paper - Recycled paper uses 90% less water and about half the energy needed to make paper from virgin timber. But since paper makes up about 70% of the waste in a typical office, you can also cut your purchasing costs and waste removal expenses while fighting pollution if you make a habit of using less and using it more than once.

2.) Whenever possible, use both sides - Keep a tray on your desk to collect any single-side printed scrap paper that comes your way and use it for taking notes or for making copies and sending faxes.
Before hitting the "print" button on your computer, proofread carefully to avoid having to print a document more than once.

3.) Sleep more - On any given workday, what with meetings, coffee breaks, lunch, and phone calls, there's probably at least one hour when you aren't looking at your computer screen, so why not let it take a little nap? Switching a computer to "sleep" mode cuts its energy consumption by 95%

4.) Shut it off - "The idea that leaving a computer on is more efficient than turning it off has become something of an urban myth," says True Green @ Work. The fact is, left on 24 hours a day every day, a computer uses nearly 1,000 kilowatts of electricity in a year, resulting in more than a ton of carbon emissions (not to mention an unnecessarily high bill from the power company).

5.) Buy a plant (or two) - A pot of live greenery (maybe a begonia, or a ficus tree) not only looks good, it acts as a natural air filter, absorbing airborne pollutants and computer radiation while replenishing oxygen levels and reducing stress (somehow).

6.) Telecommute - If your boss still balks at letting you work from home or keep flexible hours, you might mention this: U.S. drivers waste nearly 6 billion gallons of fuel each year sitting in rush-hour traffic jams, which accounts for nearly 60 million tons of greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere.