Mapping Your Way to a Clean Office Environment
Information Mapping Canada is combining its passion for environmental change and its expertise as effective communicators to help its staff, suppliers and clients become environmental champions.
How to get started: Green Team
For every small, medium or large-sized company that thinks: Where do I start? Information Mapping Canada has started the ball rolling with the implementation of an office 'Green Team' focused on a carbon reduction program for its office.
3-Pronged approach
The team is using a three-pronged approach to reduce carbon emissions in their own workplace:
- actions already taken
- short-term actions, and
- medium to long-term actions.
Actions already taken
Like most offices today, Information Mapping Canada has already implemented environmentally-friendly steps like
- recycling paper and blue box separation
- printing on both sides of paper
- avoiding the use of paper cups and plastic cutlery, and
- reducing the use of bottled water when ever possible.
Short-term actions
For its short-term actions, Information Mapping Canada plans to build on these steps and start to introduce more organized, specific and deliberate commitments. These include the following:
- turning off the computers and monitors of all staff at night and when they are away from the office
- switching off printers, photocopiers, coffee-makers, etc. when not is use and adding a "switch me off" to the equipment to encourage staff to adhere to the practice
- eliminating unnecessary photocopying
- turning lights off when rooms are not being used, and
- sharing its best practices with suppliers and encouraging them to get involved as well.
Medium to long-term actions
In the long-term, Information Mapping Canada plans to map out a series of steps that will eventually lead to a sustainable and ongoing framework for carbon reduction within its own workplace.
Green Team meetings
Information Mapping Canada's Green Team are planning regular meetings to develop and grow its "green" initiatives.
Resources
