1. Who Turned off the Lights?                                     

Try to use natural light by opening the window, shades or blinds to brighten your office, or try switching to energy saving bulbs. Turn off the lights in the break room, bathroom, etc. when you leave.

2. Take a Deep Breath It Department!

Computers used by businesses wastes $1 billion worth of electricity annually. Shut down computers at night; even unplug the power strip if you can! Also, when you are away from your computer for an extended period of time, put it in sleep mode to save energy. Recycle older computers by donating them to organizations that distribute them internationally. Try to look for energy-saving printers to help reduce electric bills.

3. Save a Tree!

Use both sides of the printer paper for internal documents to save paper costs. Use scraps pieces of paper as note paper, or make scratch pads for taking phone messages. Talk to your local Office Depot about trading in your empty print cartridges for new recycled ones for a discounted price.

4. Break those Break Room Habits

BYOC! - bring your own cup into work. Make a contest out of it to see who can bring the most fun or crazy cup and offer a prize to the winner. Purchase inexpensive reusable plates and silverware for employees to use for meals instead of throw-away ware. Use coffee mugs for your morning Joe instead of Styrofoam cups. Replace bottled water with Brita filters. Label recycling bins to put in the break room to make it easier for employees to recycle.

5. Create a "Green Team!"

See which employees in your office want to lead the "Green" initiative and get others excited about the process. Have the team put on fun events to teach staff about sustainability both at the workplace and at home such as potluck lunches and team meetings.

 6. Try "Flex Scheduling"                

Flex-scheduling allows employees to work longer hours four days a week and then gives them one day off - usually Monday or Friday - in order to help employees to save on gas and also reduce their carbon footprint! This also helps to build company morale. Another way companies are saving on gas is using audio and video conferencing instead of flying or driving to a meeting. Also, webinars allow for organizations to provide information and materials to masses instead of spending money or wasting gas on a location conference. Employees save on gas by carpooling - if every commuter carried just one more person it would save 8 billion gallons of gas and save 516 kilograms of CO2 in reduced travel.

7. Bathrooms...

Use machine washable towels instead of paper towels - saves money and helps to reduce your carbon footprint. Use "Green" friendly cleaning supplies to reduce toxins that escape into the air from other cleaning products. Be cautious of your water usage - an average American uses 80 gallons of water daily while the rest of the world's daily usage is only 2.5 gallons.

8. Choose Vendors The Have "Green" Policies

Many vendors are now using environmentally friendly products or strategies in order to "Go Green" and advertise these changes on their website or marketing collaterals. If you are unsure if your vendors are "Green", ask them - and if not, see if they would be willing to join you in your "Green" efforts!

9. Go Electronic!

Try to reduce your paper usage (and cost) by sending most things electronically. Send your internal/external surveys/evaluations online and create "E-blasts" to send to your database instead of direct mailers. Send follow-up "thank yous" and "nice to meet yous" as e-cards instead of using paper cards.

10. Holiday Savings!

Decorate your office with natural items such as twigs, popcorn cranberry strings, and holly. Coordinate a potluck holiday party to save gas from delivery and kitchen ware that isn't recyclable. Have all office gifts be homemade and have employees wrap them in newspapers or magazines from the office. If you are having a holiday party at another location, have guests carpool. When you start shopping for holiday gifts, bring your own environmentally friendly bags to put your purchased items in instead of plastic or paper.