World Earth Day, observed on June 5th each year, serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something positive for the environment, galvanizing individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.
The theme for World Environment Day this year is “Seven Billions Dreams. One Planet. Consume with care”. This is the ideal time to take a meaningful pledge to ‘go green’ and implement some environmental-friendly measures at work. Greening your office can also reduce your operating costs.
- Reduce or eliminate paper: Digitization is considered a boon for the environment. Keep things digital and dematerialized whenever possible. Use a document scanner with easy-to-use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities to convert scanned printed/handwritten image files into its machine readable text format. Document scanning also helps in the easy retrieval of documents and allows you to convert them to other formats. Digital files offer benefits such as quicker access, enhanced sharing capabilities, and improved data security. Electronic documents streamline office work flow, boost productivity and reduce the need for physical storage space.
- Save computer energy: Take measures to save energy. Shut down computers and other devices when you leave for the day and put the system in sleep mode when you are away for a short period of time.
- Cloud-Based Storage: Cloud computing storage virtualizes the work environment. You can store the files and documents you’re working on in the cloud and can access them from any location. Cloud solutions are ideal for businesses with a distributed workforce.
- Save electricity: Printers, scanners, and other devices that are only used occasionally can be kept unplugged when not in use. Also, turn off lights in spaces that are unoccupied. To go eco-friendly, you can also use fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs.
- Encourage carpooling: If walk or bike to work doesn’t work, this is the right option. Along with protecting environment, carpooling also saves money and fuel.
In every office, using some paper is inevitable. Maintain your going green goals by encouraging the use of environment-friendly products such as recycled paper, refillable ink cartridges and non-toxic highlighters.
Happy World Environment Day!
