How to Make the Home Office More Eco-Friendly
The window has the curtains shut tight. They might as well unravel, silky shades that only shade the room from the light. The light continues to play across the walls, bouncing on plant leaves, and making its way to lay gently across your cheek and the desk in front of you. You sit back in your mesh chair with your arms resting on its pleather armrests. You wonder about nothing and everything in that moment of tranquility. Then a nagging thought throws a limelight on itself. “How can I make my office more eco-friendly?”
You rock forward and type out that thought word for word into the search engine of your browser. The search results load instantaneously. Where to start?
Here.
Welcome. Today we are going to cover some energy-saving and recycling/reusing tips to integrate your eco-friendly lifestyle into the office space. I promise you, it’s lightly exciting. Not too exciting to distract you from the work you inevitably have to get back to, and not too boring that you will just skip the article and save your thoughts for another day.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
The very object you’re using to view this, the computer and its monitor(s)/keyboard or the laptop, uses more energy than you might think.
PC Tower (w/ mouse and keyboard) — Standby: ~6 watts; Max. wattage of 250 per 24 hrs (costs $0.72/day & $262.80/yr)
PC Monitor — Standby: ~10 watts; CRT: 80 watts per 24 hrs ($0.12/day & $42.04/yr) or LCD: 35 watts ($0.05/day & $18.40/yr)
Laptop/Tablet — Standby: N/A; Max. 45 watts per 12 hrs ($0.064/day & $23.65/yr)
The hours used to calculate the energy costs are exaggerated, but they give a rough view of clear winners in energy savings and quality as well as how much energy waste costs your household. For more accurate numbers, please use a calculator such as this one.
Surely, there’s nothing you can do about that, right? The computer and its parts are integral to your daily life and work.
That’s where savvy energy saving comes in. Instead of having to worry about saving energy while using the very machines needing it to function, you can form the following habits:
- Before you go to bed or any time you leave the home/office for a long duration (think more than an hour), turn off the computer and monitor(s) using a power strip (with a surge protector). Instill the habit of managing your time or bookmarks in order to not lose important tabs or information that you need for later. Auto-save is your friend in case there’s a power outage or you are feeling too lazy to shut down all the applications you were using by turning off the computer completely. It is advised to shut down the computer from Windows itself, and not from a power strip or the PC tower. This will ensure that your computer maintains its reliability for years, as consistent powering off through electrical outlet/power strip and/or PC tower will wear out the hardware components quicker and may even corrupt data and programs that you rely upon. For more information, this article makes a powerful case.
- Since your computer needs more energy than your phone, laptop, and tablet to operate, it’s best to keep the desktop computer on only for work-time and use other devices for other times of day (leisure, research outside of work time, mindless scrolling, etc.) However, the same advice applies to other devices. When not in use, try to keep them off and/or not plugged in.
- Unplug the outlets or power off the power strip that charges these devices. The amount of energy consumed through standby/sleep mode is minimal but still ever-present.
Aside from the computer, there are other energy-fueled office essentials to consider. I covered some of them in this article. So if you’re wondering how much energy a lamp and/or ceiling fan/light, floor fan, floor heater, and TV use, then refer to that article. There are also valuable tips in there regarding how to make the bedroom more eco-friendly.
For the sake of brevity, I included these office essentials that are most common for the office space:
Humidifier/Essential Oil Diffuser — Standby: N/A; Cool Mist: 50 watts (per 12hrs — $0.072/day & $2.16/mo) or Warm Mist: 260 watts (per 12 hrs — $0.374/day & $11.23/mo)
Printer — Standby: 4 watts (home printer) and 40 watts (commercial size); Home Printer: ~40 watts or Commercial: ~400 watts (per 1hr/day — $0.048/day & $17.52/yr)
Copier — Standby: ~55 watts; Low-volume Copier: ~1500 watts(!) (per 1hr/day — $0.18/day & $65.70/yr)
Paper Shredder — Standby: N/A; ~150 watts (energy cost minimal, especially for the duration it’s in use)
The hours used to calculate the energy costs are exaggerated, but they give a rough view of clear winners in energy savings and quality as well as how much energy waste costs your household. For more accurate numbers, please use a calculator such as this one.
There are two approaches: zero-energy waste or minimal energy waste. If you want to be completely zero-energy waste, then make the habit of unplugging any appliance not in use and not in need of being plugged in constantly (e.g., smart assistants would need to stay on constantly as their reboot time can be slow, depending). Minimal energy waste would focus on the appliances/electronics with higher wattage and instill the habit of unplugging before bed or leaving the home/office for extended periods.
Standby energy usage is not typically something to worry about for some appliances as the standby mode can be drawing as little as 10 watts or under 100 watts. My rule of thumb is if you can’t buy ENERGY STAR certified, then use your electricity minimally and wisely. Leaving the room? Turn the light off. Not using the printer for more than an hour? Unplug. These seem simple, but our habits can turn against us when we have the mindset that our objects should work for us constantly. It’s better to work with the objects we rely upon and slow down to appreciate the tasks and lifestyle we can have as a result of these objects.
What do you do with electronics/appliances no longer needed or in need of repair?
For beyond repair electronics, check for your local e-waste collector. Just replaced your “old” electronic device? Consider selling on Ebay or other electronic marketplaces (e.g., Newegg, Swappa, Gazelle).
For all appliances and general household objects in need of repair, consider a non-profit repair and tool clinic/library or repairing it yourself through DIY videos.
For printer cartridges: https://www.inkcartridges.com/blog/howto/4-simple-ways-to-recycle-your-old-printer-cartridges/
What to do if you enjoy physical paper for tasks?
While it is worth it to switch from paper to digital versions, that’s not possible for everyone’s situation. Paper is sometimes even preferred for memory recall and for important documentation! So what to do with the paper that is no longer needed? Shred it! If you shred it, then place it in a clear plastic bag to separate from the rest of the recycling (refer to your recycling hauler’s requirement though). Or you can even compost that shredded paper!
Wonder where all that shredded paper should be going if recycled?
https://www.timeshred.com/what-happens-to-the-shredded-paper/
How to recycle books and journals?
https://earth911.com/recycling-guide/how-to-recycle-books-magazines/
Sticky Notes? — You can shred the non-adhesive part, then compost it. Or you can recycle it whole along with your other paper separated into its own bag.
Index Cards? — Same advice as sticky notes.
Why does all this matter?
The EPA provides some metrics to put paper recycling into perspective for us.
What can you do with staples, paper clips, pens/markers, and glue bottles?
Staples: Use what you need, reuse if possible, toss otherwise (not recyclable). Consider using paper clips or folding the corners of a stack of papers so they stay together.
Paper Clips: Use in place of staples, use what you need, reuse, and toss otherwise (not recyclable).
**Instead of tossing these, consider DIY projects, donating paper clips to a local school, or if you have bulk then take to a scrap metal recycler.
Pens: Buy pens/pencils that allow for easy ink/lead cartridge refill, and consider switching to digital versions of tasks that require a pen. Terracycle has a program where you can collect pens on your campus, in your neighborhood, at your local library, etc. and send them to Terracycle to be remade into recycled plastic products or smelted into recyclable metal.
What can you do with computer cleaners?
Recycle the containers (after all residue/liquid/air is gone) and refer to your local recycling hauler about how to properly dispose of compressed air cans.
Do consider DIY approaches for the future though, as these save waste and are generally cheaper. For your convenience, I included a handy guide made by Yumi Sakugawa.
Composting Tips:
You can compost paper and cardboard as long as they’re shredded or cut into smaller bits so they decompose faster. This is especially important for vermicomposting. Avoid glossy and thermal coated papers.
Make sure the ink used on the paper/cardboard is soy-based and not petroleum-based (should state on the label). If printed paper is in b&w, there’s a likely chance that it is safe for your compost. Newspapers printed in b&w and colored are also safe. If in doubt, cut around the colored parts and recycle those.
BONUS Recommendations:
Consider switching from your current email to Posteo, or a similar email host that is transparent with your data privacy and environmentally/socially responsible. I will cover the importance of this in another article, as I realize it isn’t the most convenient change to make.
When buying office furniture, consider buying second-hand, higher-quality, and FSC-Certified wood to ensure durability, reliability, and an environmentally-conscious life cycle.
Don’t want to buy a floor mat for your rolling chair? Consider non-plastic wheels for your office chair like these. The plastic mats usually used for rolling office chairs are recyclable but incredibly bulky/huge for most recycling facilities, which means that more often than not, they will end up in the landfill.
Thanks for reading! I would love to hear the steps you have taken to make your office more eco-friendly. No act is too small! :)
Want to continue the discussion? Have questions or suggestions? Email me at rerecyclechi@gmail.com (haven’t transferred to Posteo yet, but I’m getting there!)
Until next time…
