5 Habits of Going Green

A step at a time - going green may boil down to changing basic behaviors and habits. In fact, adopting these simple "green" habits will also help to streamline the business and improve the bottom line. How many of these are adopted by your company?

1. Go paperless where possible.
While the concept of a paperless office has been floating for over 20 years, the demand for paper in offices is still high. Even with the common use of e-mails instead of hard copy correspondences, offices still have high print volumes. Instead of printing hardcopy, digital documents using document management software like DocuWorks can be created. Just like paper documents, digital documents can be annotated, merged and even personalized.

2. Replace carbon-intensive activities.
Another habit is to weed out carbon-intensive activities by replacing them with more efficient activities, such as increasing the number of virtual meetings through tele-presence, Web collaboration tools and e-learning. This helps to reduce the number of flights and road trips taken by employees.

3. Use energy-efficient technology.
Companies can also cut emissions by seeking more energy-efficient technologies through the following examples: � Use fewer servers and printers by increasing utilization rate and through the use of virtualization technologies. � Activate the power management function of devices such as the 'sleep mode' feature. � Change to using energy- efficient devices and equipment such as light bulbs and fluorescent lamps.

4. Choose "green" suppliers.
Choose to work with reputable green suppliers, such as those who have been awarded the "Green Label". This helps your company on the path to environmental sustainability in your supply chain management and not just in your day-to-day operations.

5. Educate and change the mindset of staff.
Even as organizations become more aware of CO2 emissions and are making significant efforts to go green, success ultimately hinges not only on corporate policies and strategic directions but on changed behaviors and habits. Staff needs to be aware and taught how their actions will lead to a greener earth -. For instance, educational or e-learning programs on basic environment and corporate social responsibility awareness can be made compulsory for all new hires and existing staff.

Go ahead, put theory into practice, and embrace these habits that go a long way to a more sustainable corporate lifestyle.

Written by: Tao Ai Lei

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