10 quick ways to be greener at work

Okay. no major lifestyle changes...these are 10 quick and easy ways to go greener at your company or home office. Each takes less than 15 minutes!

Tomorrow, 10 more for the house and car.

1) Instead of ordering printed business forms, get your business forms, employee forms and HR information online from sites like G.Neil.com, which offers lots of printable stuff like printable state-specific job applications. Time to make change: 5 minutes

2) Set your office computers to go into sleep or hibernate after hours, and use Wake on LAN to allow after-hours updates and remote access without wasting energy. Time to make change: 10 minutes

3) Next time you shop for breakroom supplies, replace the foam plates and cups in the lunch rooms with recycled/recycable paper and provide a recycle bin. Better yet, encourage people to bring their own mug and provide bio-safe dish soap. Time to make change: 5 minutes

4) Replace paper memos with electronic ones. Ban paper ones, ban printing the electronic ones. (Make the penalty for violation funny...like having to wear the paper memos pinned to one's shirt for the day!) Time to make change: 1 minute and some good laughs as people adjust to the new rules

5) Take out 10 light bulbs in your office and replace them with high-efficiency green light bulbs. Time to make change: 10 minutes, assuming no lawyers or other lightbulb joke participants are involved)

6) Install hand sanitizer stations in restrooms and breakrooms to reduce water and paper towel use. Time to make change: 10 minutes per station

7) Instead of placing a paper insert ad, spend 10 minutes a day promoting your company or product on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social sites and networks. Time to make change: 10 minutes per day

8) Replace the toxic cleaners in your offices with green, safe versions. Or better yet, mix your own natural cleaners from things like baking soda and vinegar. Time to make change: 15 minutes or less per product

9) Send out a green tip of the day to employees (via the Internet, NOT on paper!) Encourage employees to submit their own green ideas and lifestyle changes to include in your list of tips. Time to make the change: 5 minutes or less a day

10) Change your subscription on two professional journals, bills or order confirmations from paper to online only. Do this once a week until everything that can be paperless is paperless. Time to make the change: 10 minutes a week

There you go! 10 quick changes, each 15 minutes or less! Ready, set, green!

Choose energy efficient hardware for a greener IT department

Start with the star...

The Energy Star logo is a good place to start when it's time to add new hardware to your IT department, or when you're trying to decide which laptops, desktops or servers need to go.

The Energy Star program allows businesses and consumers to find the lowest energy use electronics and appliances in a wide variety of categories. IT departments can check out existing or planned computer equipment on the Energy Star website. It even allows you to check specific upgrades for their impact on the Energy Star.

Another place to check out is the EPEAT website (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) for desktops, laptops or computer monitors. This program was developed in response to consumer demand for more information about the environmental impact of electronic equipment choices. According to their website,

EPEAT meets the needs of both the purchasing and manufacturing communities. It provides purchasers with a common standard, a way to evaluate continuing environmental improvements, and an easy way to determine which products meet the standard. It also clearly defines the environmental parameters for manufacturers to incorporate into their product design process.

Whenever possible, choose computer equipment with duel or multicore processors. These powerful processors will significantly increase computational and processing power with only a small increase in power use per machine. That could mean less machines are needed, and you'll save on both energy and equipment.

Finally, make sure your power supplies are efficient (some are rated as high as 80% efficiency) and that your systems cooling fans are working well. Choose variable speed fans for more precise energy control.

Make your IT department greener - Virtualization

One of the areas often overlooked as a business moves toward a greener business model is the IT department and its functions. But computer equipment and servers can eat up a large portion of your energy budget.

Here is the first in a series of posts offering ways to take your company's technology into a greener world, without sacrificing data processing power or storage.

Invest in Virtualization Technology

Servers and other computer hardware can be power hogs, but most businesses are utilizing only a small percentage of their sever capacity at any given time -- some experts estimate as little as 10-15%. That means that one physical machine has the capacity to run multiple programs, and indeed even multiple operating systems simultaneously. Less machines means less energy usage -- good for the earth and your bottom line!

So what is virtualization?

Today’s powerful x86 computer hardware was originally designed to run only a single operating system and a single application, but virtualization breaks that bond, making it possible to run multiple operating systems and multiple applications on the same computer at the same time, increasing the utilization and flexibility of hardware.

Virtualization is a technology that can benefit anyone who uses a computer, from IT professionals and Mac enthusiasts to commercial businesses and government organizations

-- from vmware, the pioneers in VT

Virtualization really saves energy -- and money.

A recent article in Baseline described the savings PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company) realized when they replaced their high energy use systems with a virtualization model. The move allowed them to reduce their total servers from nearly 300 to about 30. That slashed overall energy use, even with an increased need for chillers to maintain server room temps around the clock.

And even with the cost of retrofitting and adaptation of space and equipment to use the new programs, the company estimated a payback of only 1-2 years, with an ROI of almost 30%.

Another plus? Less server and computer floor space means less real estate is needed for data and IT functions. That saves on overhead, including rent or mortgage, maintenance, lighting and other utilities.

Finding a virtualization program for your business

There are a variety of virtualization programs available, including several open source versions. Microsoft, vmware, and others offer adaptable VT software for use on a wide variety of operating systems. While all VT systems work on the same principle, you should talk to several companies to find the version right for your business needs.