Being more Sustainable in the Office
There are many things you can do to be more sustainable in your work environment. Below is a list of tips, and our Eco Office programme is now open for UC staff to join...
Energy and Heating
In your office
- Switch off your computer monitor whenever you aren't using it, and overnight. This saves around 40% of the energy used by the computer.
- Switch off computers overnight unless you are advised not to by ICTS. Contact ICTS for more information.
- Turn off printers and photocopiers if you are the last to leave at night, unless advised not to by ICTS.
- Switch off lights in areas which are not being used.
- Switch off your own lights if away for over ten minutes and also overnight.
- Make all use of natural ventilation for cooling in the summer; don’t use the air conditioning with any windows open as this makes the unit work significantly harder and less efficiently.
- Avoid using of portable heaters or fans in offices. These are significantly less efficient than centralised systems.
In the Tearoom
- Use the microwave rather than the stovetop or oven where possible.
- Defrost food naturally instead of using the microwave.
- Avoid warming up cooking equipment too early.
- Let food cool before putting it in the fridge or freezer.
- Keep food covered to reduce moisture build-up on the inside of the fridge, and make sure containers are moisture free before placing them in the fridge.
Transport
- Promote sustainable transport - walking, cycling, bussing, carpooling - in your office. See the Getting Places page for more information.
- Promote the maximum appropriate use of communication technologies such as video-telephones and the Access Grid to avoid costly and carbon intensive air travel in conducting business. This is a current ICTS project.
- Make consideration of transportation in purchasing and disposal decision making, and check whether your needs can be sourced locally.
Consumption, Purchasing and Waste Disposal
General
- Make correct use of the recycling system provided to offices and the University at large, and work with your colleagues to maximise the diversion of waste through this system. See the What Can I Recycle? for more information.
- Make efficient use of materials within the useful in-office lifetime. For example, use and re-use such items as paperclips instead of staples where possible. Incremental savings across your office will create large cumulative savings over time.
- Think of the life-cycle effect of such small actions. Using the paperclip example again, the lack of staples will assist in recycling paper once it has been discarded.
Paper
- Print and photocopy documents only when strictly necessary.
- Design your documents, handouts and memos so that they minimise paper use.
- Use double-sided printing and photocopying wherever possible. This could reduce your paper consumption by at least one third.
- Collect single-sided paper and re-use it for notes and drafts, store single-sided paper in a box or A4 folder on your desk and near printers.
- Re-use all paper before recycling as much as is practical.
- Procurement:
- Prefer products with an Environmental Choice NZ license (EC-26-07 Office Paper and Stationery) or other third-party audited life cycle ecolabel, or others showing that they meet similar criteria.
- Prefer paper products with post-consumer recycled content - minimum 30%, best 100%.
- For paper products with virgin fibres, prefer those made from fibre sourced from third-party certified legal and sustainable forestry.
- Prefer paper products which have been bleached with reduced use of chlorine - minimum ECF (elemental chlorine free), best TCF (totally chlorine free) or PCF (process chlorine free).
Water
- Wait until the dishwasher is full before turning it on.
- Always use the economy cycle on your dishwasher. If your dishwasher is able to heat its own water, use this function – it's more economical than drawing water from the hot water cylinder.
- Don’t use a full flush when a 'half' flush will suffice.
- Report dripping taps and running toilets or urinals that are not operating 'on demand.' Contact Facilities Management on ext 6400.
- If your office includes labs, think about water use when you plan your experiments and use electric vacuum pumps.
UC Eco-Office
Following on from a UC Summer Sustainability Scholarship project in 2008/09, the UC Sustainability Office is currently developing an Eco-Office Programme to help all office users on campus make their work places more sustainable. This programme involves a network of people interested in sustainable office practice, sustainability assessment forms and a certification process so that your office can formally get on the sustainability journey. Click here to learn more about the Eco Office programme.