Home Office Answers

After I reviewed the staggering impact my paper bills have on the environment I started wondering about the impact of the countless coupons I receive in the mail everyday.

I did a rough estimate of the amount of coupons and fliers I receive and here are the results from the pay it green calculator.

Paper 20.2 pounds of paper wasted
Water 192 gallons of wastewater
Gasoline 6.5 gallons of gas
Greenhouse Gases 360 pounds of greenhouse gases
This amount of greenhouse gas is the equivalent of: 354 miles driven in your car
50 square feet of forest deforestation

I did not input any return mail so the numbers are very real. WOW

There are some alternatives to paper coupons.

1) Cell Fire

Cellfire delivers paperless coupons to your mobile phone so you’ll never have to clip coupons again. Cellfire is a download to your mobile phone and the catch, if there is one, is the company has to list their deals thru Cellfire. The benefit if you just pulled up to Ben & Jerry’s and want a coupon for your RockyRoad cone you can simply check on cellfire for any Ben & Jerry’s coupon codes.
I haven’t tried this service yet myself, if you have please tell me about it in the comments below.

2) Wifi On-line Codes

I really like the idea of giving of getting a coupon code right when I need it.
If you use a service like Brad’s Deals and have WiFi on your phone that’s all you need. If you are at BestBuy and decide to make a purchase you can go to Brad Deals and find the best coupon and then show the clerk the screen, with the coupon code at check out. It’s as simple as that.

3) Store Coupon Codes in your cell phone

If you don’t have Wi-Fi on your phone, you need to plan ahead a little to use your cell phone in lieu of paper coupons. Look up the coupon codes on line and store them in your phone contacts before you leave home.
I suggest using a contact name like X- Best Buy, to make it easy to find and delete when you are finished. Once you are at the check out simply provide the cashier with the applicable code number for your purchase.

Do you have other suggestions for paperless coupons?

  We recently covered Go Green with On-Line Bill Paying  and how it could help you organize your office and save you money at the same time. 

I have already switched my bills to electronic bill paying wherever possible, but I couldn’t resist trying this green financial footprint calculator to see how much I am saving.

By switching to electronic bills, statements, and payments, I conserve the following resources in 1 year:

Paper 5.6 pounds of paper saved

Water 53 gallons of wastewater prevented from discharging into lakes, streams and rivers

Gasoline 7.2 gallons of gas saved by not mailing your bills, statements, and payments

Greenhouse Gases 223 pounds of greenhouse gases avoided

This amount of greenhouse gas is the equivalent of: 219 miles not driven in your car

3 trees planted (and grown for 10 years)

31 square feet of forest preserved from deforestation

I must admit I am feeling pretty pleased with myself right now, saving all that with such an easy change, WOW!

Click on over to use Pay it Green’s calculator to see how much you, and your friends and family, can save by going with green with on-line billing.

If paying on-line is a new process for you please read our tips before you start.

If you have some companies that don’t offer on-line bill paying be sure to give them this web site link with your next check, maybe they will consider it.

Go Green One Change at a Time

Do you fill up your trash everyday with notes you are compelled to jot down?

One of the easiest ways to reduce paper is the simple dry erase board you see in my picture. 

Keeping the dry erase board by my computer has saved countless pieces of paper from unnecessary use.

Could you save paper by using a dry erase board?

Make your home office greener today with this straightforward tip.

If you don’t already have one check out The Green Office Link Below and order yours today.

The dark side of my brain wonders if we all saved our junk mail for 30 days and then returned it all to the post office on the same day, would “they” get the message.

When I am being rational I know it’s not the postal workers problem to solve and most of them probably hate junk mail as much as I do.  So who do we contact to STOP the madness?

The folks at ForestEthics have started a DO NOT MAIL campaign to petition congress. 

If you want congress to know you are frustrated with junk mail and want it stop, I recommend you sign the petition.

There are web sites organized around helping you stop your own personal influx of mail.

There is the free service Catalogue Choice.  It’s very user friendly.  It is only going to help reduce catalogues that you receive.

You can Cut Junk Mail up to 90%. Plant 10 Trees. All for $20.
www.greendimes.com  their service is designed to help you reduce all mail not just catalogues.
Green Dimes has also recently added a free version, where they will send you $1.00 to try it out.
Check it out www.greendimes.com

ProQuo is a free service designed to help reduce all junk mail and catalogues. 

41Pounds appropriately cost $41.00 and covers you for 5 years.

I think the bigger question we have to answer is why is something that seems so simple  really so complex?   

How did we get where we are and how can we get out?

In my former life I worked at a major financial institution that used direct mail solicitation on a regular basis.  The cost of direct mail advertising is so cheap compared to all other methods of advertising that to have a successful campaign the company only needed a 7-10% response rate.  I doubt that the rate is any higher today.

Simply put- Junk mail WORKS. 

Think about your own experiences, have you EVER been prompted by something you received in the mail to go out and make a purchase you were not planning?  I think if you are truthful the answer is yes.  Most of us, at least once, have seen an ad in the mail and said “I want that”. After all who doesn’t love a good coupon from their favorite store?

Accepting that fact that advertising works no matter how much we hate it, forces us to look at the junk mail problem from another angle.

A quick search on the USPS web site reveals that the bulk rate postage paid by advertisers is about half what we pay as consumers to send mail. 

My search also revealed the USPS web site is barraged with information about how to start a direct mail campaign to increase business.  Should the government be encouraging direct mail ads?

I think eliminating bulk mail rates for businesses may be a start.  I realize eventually the increased cost of mailing advertisements may filter down to us, the consumer, thru the cost of the products.  However; maybe an increase in mailing cost will cause each company to look for and find alternative advertising methods.

What do you think the answer is? 
Please post your comments maybe together we can find the real solution to stop junk mail.

In my mail just today are 3 return envelopes that I don’t need and 2 that I do.  If that’s the case with even half of the homes across the country think how many return envelopes are being made, using up our trees and filling up our landfills.

ecoEnvelopes, is an women-owned and operated organization with an innovative line of reusable envelopes that reduce mail costs and benefit the environment. The reusable envelopes simply zip open, allowing users to insert their response or payment and seal them up again just like a regular envelope.

ecoEnvelopes are made exclusively on certified papers from managed forests with up to 100% recycled content. USPS approved, ecoEnvelopes run seamlessly on existing equipment.

One of my goals here at Home Office Answers is to keep you updated on products and ideas that help you make your home office green and do not add any additional time to your workday. 
ecoEnvelopes seem to be an over due alternative to sending reply envelopes.

Try ecoEnvelopes for your business reply mail and let me know what you think.

  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 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