Home Office Answers

  If you send or receive faxes in your home office and you haven’t tried using an internet fax service lately, consider trying one for the next 30 days. 
Internet faxing is an easy and cost effective way to green up your home office.
You will reduce the paper you use.  There is no need to ever print a cover sheet or annoying spam ad again. You can reduce the paper that’s lying around the office by printing only the pages of the document you absolutely need to. Remember to also use the 2 sided printing whenever possible.

You will save money on ink and toner.

You also save time storing the documents.  Since the fax is received electronically all you need to do is label it and file it in your computer file where you want it.

Once you decide internet faxing is a good fit for you, and I really think you will, you can eliminate the cost you are paying for that extra phone line and long distance charges.

Most online fax services provide you with a toll free number to keep your home office looking professional.  Most providers also offer a local number if you need it.

Using an Internet fax is very convenient and very portable; you can access it anywhere, anytime — wherever you find the Internet.  This can prove to be an added benefit if you need to visit a client or take business from the home office to the road office.

I like being able to send and receive a fax if necessary, even when I am on vacation.
The business person on the other side of the transaction doesn’t know if I am sitting at my desk in my home office or sitting on the beach somewhere.

Most internet fax services offer a plan to fit every business size, so if you fax 50 pages or 5000 pages you will find a plan to work for you.

There are many online fax services to choose from.   Here is a list of links I have complied for you.

UReach, EFax, TrustFax, RapidFax, RingCentral, Metrohispeed, MyFax and Send2Fax

For my home office I use UReach Internet Fax Service UFax.

I have used this service since 2006 and am very pleased with it.  Originally I chose UReach because they were the most affordable option for me.  I have continued to use their service because it has worked well for my business needs.  During the 2 years I have used the service I have only found it necessary to call customer service twice. Both times I actually spoke with a person when I called and my question was answered and my issue was resolved before I hung up.

I also really like the private and secure feature offered by UReach.
That way I know I am the only one that can see my faxes I am sending or receiving.
Be sure you read and understand how the service you choose uses on-line storage of documents. 

I think most internet fax services offer a quick setup a free trial and are very user friendly.   

So will you take the challenge and try an on-line fax service for 30 days?

Please post your comments and tell me what service you chose and why.
If you already use an on-line fax has it helped your home office be more organized and green?

If you would like a green home and not just a green office go to HGTV

Bindi Irwin launches Bindi Wear. 
The clothes should be showing up at select boutiques across the U.S. and Austarlia.

Have you spotted a Bindi?

  I confess Fridays are usally not my most productive day; I seem save that for Mondays. I do like to clean my home office on Friday so when Monday rolls around, and I am feeling productive, I have a nice clean office.

Focusing is much easier in a nice clean home office and I enjoy starting off my work week with a smooth productive day.

Today let’s tackle cleaning the desktop.
Forget the “gentle” name brand chemical cleaners and reach for the best green cleaner I have used - vinegar.

Mix a solution of 50% white vinegar with 50% water.  Use an old white cotton t-Shirt for a rag.  Put the vinegar solution on the rag and wipe off your desk. 

I keep a reusable spray bottle of the 50-50 solution in my office so it’s always handy for coffee spills or any other cleaning needs.
Vinegar kills around 99% of household bacteria, it environmentally friendly and it’s CHEAP.

If the vinegar smell bothers you, do your wipe down right before you plan to leave the office for at least a 15 minute break.  Vinegar evaporates into the air quickly so the smell won’t linger long.  When weather permits I like to open my window.   

Make clean break with your chemical cleaners, you’ll be glad you did.

Tell me how you clean your home office the green way.

  Oprah’s guest Simran called for “A Real Light Bulb Moment” encouraging all of us to switch to the energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs on the recent going green show. 

The benefits of using the CFL’s have been in the main stream media a while now and chances are you know all about how they save energy, last longer and reduce carbon emissions.  All good things I might add.I think it is important that you also know these bulbs are made with small amounts of mercury and need special attention if a broken bulb occurs.

What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks

EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:
These guidelines are continually being updated so be sure to check the EPA website for updates

Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room

• 1. Have people and pets leave the room, and don’t let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
• 2. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
• 3. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

• 4. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• 5. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• 6. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
• 7. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug

• 4. Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
• 5. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
• 6. If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
• 7. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

• 8. Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.
• 9. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
• 10. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming

• 11. The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
• 12. Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

What should I do with a CFL when it burns out?

EPA recommends that consumers take advantage of available local recycling options for compact fluorescent light bulbs. EPA is working with CFL manufacturers and major U.S. retailers to expand recycling and disposal options. Consumers can contact their local municipal solid waste agency directly, or go to www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling or www.earth911.org to identify local recycling options.

If your state permits you to put used or broken CFLs in the garbage, seal the bulb in two plastic bags and put it into the outside trash, or other protected outside location, for the next normal trash collection. CFLs should not be disposed of in an incinerator.

A Global Effort to turn out the lights for just one hour.

Is your city participating?

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Earth Hour Web Site

 We have done the homework for you so you can recycle your ink cartridges the easy and free way.If you buy HP INK cartridges, check the inside of the box before you throw it into the cardboard recycling bin.  Inside many boxes are now prepaid envelopes to return the empty cartridge.  If your box does not have one or you already pitched it, no worries. HP has an easy on-line process to get the free shipping label.

 While Canon offers ways to recycle larger items like scanners they appear to be lagging behind on paying for ink cartridge recycling.
Come On Canon. No matter what brand of printer you use you may be able to send them back postage paid at your local post office soon.
Check your local post office lobby for ink cartridge recycling pre paid envelopes too.
Clover Technologies is testing a pilot program.  The pilot is set for 10 areas across the country, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, but could become a national program this fall if the pilot program proves successful.  If you want to reuse instead of recycle you can get your ink cartridges filled at your local Walgreens at there photo developing counter.  Details are here Walgreens Do you know another way to recycle or reuse ink cartridges?

Whole Foods is making going green for kids fun.  If you know a  green friendly kid be sure to check this out.
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You can also visit Whole Foods You Tube Page

 If your home office could benefit from having a few less pieces of paper try switching to on-line banking and paying your bills on-line.  Why?  Paying on-line helps you reduce paper clutter and helps you turn your home office green.

No more paper statements in your mailbox

Most of the companies I use offer an option to stop receiving statements by mail. That’s almost better than eliminating your junk mail- that’s a topic for another day.

How much paper can you eliminate in your office?

Cell phone bill 10 pages a month- gone
Each Credit Card Statement 4 pages per month- gone
Bank Statements 3 pages per month-gone
Car payment statement 1 page per month-gone
Electric Bill 2 pages per month- gone

AND don’t forget the annoying ads and return envelopes that are always stuffed in with every statement- all gone.

Signing up for online statements can single handedly reduce the paper in your home office by 30+ pages a month that’s a whopping 360 pages of paper a year GONE.

But the green and clutter reducing benefit to on-line banking don’t stop there 

No more checks to printEvery month you save the cost of using a several checks, the use of your printer and your ink to print the checks.
Eliminate your postage expense

Use a calendar to note when statements and bills are due.
 You will no longer have that paper bill staring you in the face while you work, so
 be sure to set up your calendar to remind you to pay the bill just in case your  
 email notification gets caught in a spam folder.

Set up Folders on your computer
If you already have a filing system you like for your paper bills, set up the same folders on your computer.  When you view your statement on-line use Green Print, make a pdf copy of your statement and save it in the folder you created.

A word of caution here. Make your pdf copy each month when you pay the bill. 
I learned the hard way some companies remove the statements a few eeeks after the bill has been paid.

Make and keep good notes on your user names and passwords
I have found paying bills on-line to be much quicker than writing the physical checks as long as I know how to log into the account.  Thankfully security is getting tighter at most companies for the on-line access, but that also means it can be harder to regain entry if you have lost your user information.  Don’t let this scare you off.  Set up a digital word document or a physical paper document with your entire account log in information, put it in a secure place and you’ll be set.

How do you use on-line banking to make your home office green?

   You know that feeling when you hit print from a web site and the printer starts spitting out page after page of advertisement photos, in multicolor of course.
I think my home office has wasted more paper and ink this way than any other.
I call this a green leak.  If you have this green leak too you can stop it with Green Print.

What is Green Print-
Green Print is a totally automatic (requires no action by you) print preview with easy to use tools to print what you what and not print what you don’t want. 

Walt Mossberg from the Wall Street Journal said
“GreenPrint is a good product - a simple solution to an annoying and wasteful problem.”

It detects and highlights unwanted content on pages before you print. Let’s you easily eliminate printing images on any page and it saves you from printing that one extra line of text that created a whole new page too.   

An often overlooked valuable feature in Green Print is the easy PDF converter. Did I say EASY!   You open the document you want to convert, select print. 

GREEN PRINT FACT: After you have installed green print as your default printer, selecting print from any application loads the document to the green print screen.  Remember it’s an automatic print preview.

Once the document is loaded you hit the pdf button and you are done.  This feature may save more paper than the print feature for me because it easily allows me to convert and email all my documents to friends and clients.  Using the PDF format greatly increases the chance of the document reaching the email recipient too.

Green Print World version is FREE and I highly recommend you try it.  If you are like me you’ll be back in a few days to upgrade.

When you install the FREE version be sure to take a couple of minutes and watch the tutorial video.  It is quick and helpful.

The Green Print Home Premium Version cost $35.00.  The advantages I notice with the Green Print Home Premium Version are the quicker load time, no advertisements and the biggest benefit, the license for commercial use.  Buying Green Print has saved me from having to purchase addition software to manage my PDF Conversions.

The one thing I wish they would improve is the upgrade process from the free version to the paid version.  They call it an upgrade but it really is a separate purchase.  You have to completely uninstall the free version and then reinstall the premium version.  Both installs and the uninstall take several minutes along with the time for the recommended restarts.

Have you used green print?  Share your review