The bottom line: You are now the primary decision-maker (or at least play a significant part in that role) and therefore can create your own green home office workspace!

Since you have an active interest in enhancing you overall green lifestyle and operating a green home-based business, a few ideas when either first setting up your office or replacing supplies might help!

Working from home likely means you will be using more office supplies and need additional office equipment than you did before.  So think about the following tips when purchasing materials and make your home office workspace as green as possible:

Green Home Office Equipment:

• Be sure to buy energy-efficient equipment when purchasing major items such as printers, computers, copiers, etc. displaying the “Energy Star^® logo since these machines require less energy and will save you money (green in two ways!);
• Think about purchasing an all-in-one printer/fax/copier/scanner device since one machine requires less energy than four;
• Select a printer unit that accepts recharged toner cartridges plus make sure they are available for that unit;
• Use the double-sided printing feature available on most new printers and copiers;
• Use draft mode when printing in-house documents thereby using less energy and ink;
• Replace old film cameras with new digital cameras requiring less paper and chemical processing when archiving or sharing photographic images;
• Replace conventional batteries with rechargeable ones and always be sure to dispose of batteries in an appropriate manner.

Green Home Office Supplies:

• Use recycled paper made using a high quantity of consumer waste resulting in less trees being harvested, lower energy demands and reducing waste going into landfills;
• Reduce the quantity of paper used by:
  • Share electronic files rather than paper files;
  • Re-use back side of side-sided documents for scratch pads or drafts;
  • Use double-sided printing whenever possible (see above);
• Use email for both in-house and external communication whenever possible;
• Use digital media such as CDs, DVDs, external hard drives for archival of document files, imagery, video files, audio files, etc.;
• Use web sites and web pages to meet publishing needs (advertising brochures, newsletters, sales copy, etc.) rather than conventional printing, mailing thereby saving supplies, energy and shipping costs;
• Reuse file folders, file hangers and even envelopes when possible;
• Minimize both incoming and outgoing “snail mail” by:
  • Using voicemail, email and fax transmissions when possible;
  • Use e-billing add e-payment systems where available;
  • Cancel subscriptions to information sources available digitally or un-read newspapers, magazine, journals, etc.
• Recycle or reuse paper goods via municipal or other local programs (a local school pelletizes paper and mixes with wood waste for heating purposes); and
• Purchase refillable pens and pencils, chose recycled and non-toxic options when available and buy supplies in bulk whenever possible.

Another consideration to green your home office is to purchase recycled office furniture (there is a lot of it available in today’s marketplace) or refurbish your old furniture.  Any office furniture you no longer need can be donated to a local charity, shelters or churches as well.

So remember, now that you are the boss and main decision-maker, it’s up to you to make the right purchases and cultivate your own green home office workspace …