Home Office Answers

Going green in your home office is a step by step program. I try new ideas all the time to see what works for me.

Printing less and using less paper is a win-win for me. My home office goes green and I stay more organized.
After trying to reduce your home office use of paper as much as possible, it’s still unavoidable that you’ll need paper and printing supplies.

Now it’s time to make sure you are using sustainable paper options

Luckily there are many green paper options available. Your local office or stationery store probably carries recycled paper. I think it’s fun to look around at the different options recycled paper now comes in. There’s really no excuse for using virgin paper when there are so many tree-friendly types available. You can order bulk supplies online from many retailers as well.

My favorite source for everything a green home office might need is The Green Office. In addition to extensive paper choices, they offer all kinds of green office products from furniture to phones to ink.

Take a look at the Green Office site to see what you might need. As fun as shopping at the local retailer is, saving my time and my gas by shopping on-line is the way I choose to go.

Always make sure you really need paper, or printing supplies before you order them. Try to order at least a few months supply at a time to save on packaging and shipping.

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.