I’m feeling a bit guilty because it is an hour past the end of Earth Day here in the Eastern Time Zone and I haven’t posted anything yet. Better late than never I suppose.

I came across a great publication that has been produced by a Pennsylvania company called Green and Save. It is called the Family Guide to Going Green and Green and Save is offering it as a free PDF download. This guide does a great job of presenting loads of information on how to green your household in a format that is easy to read and understand and talk about with the little ones in the house. Even if there are no kids in your home it is still jam-packed with good information. I was especially impressed with the several pages dedicated to the costs and benefits of dozens of common (and some not so common) greening initiatives that homeowners can do. They provide the upfront costs of each action, the annual savings that can be expected, the 20-year savings, and the percent return on investment. These kinds of statistics are incredibly valuable for homeowners as they plan on greening their homes and need to decide which actions are going to have the biggest bang for the buck.

To my Canadian readers - the publication is written for Americans but I still think you will find that most of it is incredibly useful for your homes as well.

Happy reading, happy greening, and happy belated Earth Day!

Globe image provided courtesy of a Creative Commons license by ONT_Design

The other day my wife told me a couple of suggestions that one of her blog readers made about saving energy and resources while computing. I hadn’t heard of these recommended products before but was so intrigued with the novelty of the ideas (the first two in the following list) that I decided to make them the theme of this post - ten ways to reduce your office’s carbon footprint. Not all of us can have as green an office as the one shown in the picture, but implementing a few of these actions will put you on the right track:

Use Blackle search engine (if you have CRT monitors)

The Blackle search engine was developed with a black interface to reduce the energy use associated with displaying lighter colors on computer monitors. Blackle’s founders have been criticized for overstating the energy savings associated with their product. In a test comparing the energy use of Blackle and Google search engines, the difference with LCD monitors was negligible. However, the Blackle search engine used an impressive 13% less energy than Google on old cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors. Since a lot of offices and schools still use these old clunkers, Blackle should be promoted as an energy-saving option for them.

Ecofont

This font is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The Econfont uses up to 20% less toner ink by embedding small circles within the characters, which they claim is virtually unnoticeable on a standard printed page. This font is free to download and free to use, so there is nothing to lose from giving it a try.

Use a green web host

Computer servers and web-hosting facilities are incredibly energy-intensive. Switch to a green web host that will invest in renewable energy or carbon offsets to counterbalance the energy used on your website. CO2stats is one of the largest providers of green web hosting services, but dozens of other companies are available to choose from.

Turn off computers, monitors, and printers at night

A lot of people are under the impression that screen savers are energy-saving - they are not. Screen savers use as much energy as normal computer use. Use your computer’s ’sleep mode’ during the day when you are away from your desk for more than a few minutes. At night be sure to TURN OFF your monitor, hard drive, and other accessories (printer, scanner, etc.).

Increase the use of teleconferencing and video conferencing

A lot of business trips could probably be avoided through the use of video conferences and teleconferences. Re-think the necessity of each business trip, and if travel is necessary try to make it as efficient as possible by incorporating multiple tasks into the same trip.

Use paper efficiently

An incredible amount of paper can be saved by being more efficient in how it is used, including double-sided printing, reduced margin size, and using less space between lines.

Implement a corporate environmental or sustainability policy

Make energy reduction and carbon awareness a corporate policy so that it becomes engrained in the culture of the company. Over time sustainability will become second nature to your employees and your carbon footprint will decrease substantially.

Provide locally-grown and sustainably-made foods in your cafeteria

Maximize the use of natural daylight or energy-efficient lighting

Use recycled paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

Image courtesy of Nicolas Sauvage (Flickr Creative Commons license)