Being Earth's Best Friend

Image by thaths via FlickrBy Tina L Douglas

If you want to be a best friend of the earth and you are a business owner, then all you need it so achieve a paperless office. Going paperless goes beyond caring for the earth and the trees within, you are also saving a lot on your cost.

I am a business owner myself and I've always wanted to run a paperless office. I know that the entire process does not come in an instant as there are a lot of things that need to be considered, other than the cost that you will incur in renovating your office to make it more earth friendly. The change was gradual and this was the checklist that I tried to follow:

1. Use productivity software. There are a lot of productivity software available online for free. I searched online for this software and had them downloaded. Now, I don't need paper calendars to schedule my tasks, deadlines and meetings. I had all them stored in my computer and it's very easy to share them with my team because I can do so through shared calendars.

2. Use online fax. I made the switch since after thorough research, I came to realize that online fax does not only save a lot on paper, it also saves me a lot on my office expenses. I don't have to buy fax papers, inks and toners nor do I have to pay for additional telephone lines.

3. Network all computers. This was pretty complicated so I asked an networking expert to do it for us. Now, whenever my team and I are working on a project, it's easier to share documents and check out their progress because files can be shared though networked computer. We save a lot on paper because we don't have to print these documents. Now, everything is "approved" before it gets printed.

4. Use instant messaging service. This is another addition that we did in the office. I had every computer installed with a messaging software that, again, is networked. Whenever I need to share office memos or correspondences, I don't need to have them printed since I just post it to my employee's messaging board. If I need to send someone a message, I just don't need to use post-it notes, I just send them a message.

5. Remind everyone to bring their own mugs. Since we went paperless, we custom-fitted our coffee dispensing machine to use our own mugs instead of paper cups. This saves a lot of trash from coffee cups that were being dispensed.

6. No Styro Policy. We will try to enforce a "no styro" policy in the office (this is still part of the plan since it needs to be implemented yet) and encourage everyone to follow through. Instead of calling the nearest Chinese restaurant (which is a favourite among my employees), I will encourage them to eat in the cafeteria instead.

It's work in progress and we aim to add more things to our checklist. Any suggestions?

A well established writer, Tina L. Douglas, is fond to write articles that could help fellowmen realize the essence of nature. She begin writing articles about online fax to reduce the use of paper.

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