It's Labor Day on Monday and that got me thinking about the illusive promise of green jobs. Everyone seems to want one, but no one seems to be able to find one. Having written, "Green Your Work", I get calls weekly, asking if I know of any available green jobs. Recently, a national television producer who wanted to do a story showing people doing green jobs contacted me; I wasn't sure where to send them.
The truth is that real green jobs are most often unexciting typical office or service jobs woven into the fabric of a traditional law firm or a restaurant. They don't scream "GREEN JOB" and they probably don't get any kind of public funding or tax breaks for the greening that they are doing. It is simply a worker who has taken on the responsibility to green their area of control in an organization.
So, if you are in pursuit of the GJ and currently employed, know that you can make your own job green by changing a few simple things. If you are looking for a job, let interviewers know that you have an interest in helping them find the resource and cost savings through greening. It may be the trait that sets you apart.
Here are some tips to get you started. These suggestions don't necessarily require buy-in from higher ups and most also apply to a home office:
Practice energy management -- Optimizing the energy settings for your computer and other electronics can be more than a modest energy saver. Set computers to energy-saving settings so they automatically use less energy if you are not using it.
Turn off your computer/screen/printer when not in use overnight - Computers left on unintentionally overnight can eat up $100/year in cost and the corresponding amount in electricity. Use a power strip, so you can easily turn it off each night before you leave.
Request dual monitors for your computer -- It is easy and relatively inexpensive to hook up two monitors to your computer. Your productivity will increase because you can research a topic or read from one screen and make edits to related document on another without printing which means that you reduce your toner, paper use and become more efficient.
Take online classes whenever possible -- Instead of spending time to get to a class that will hone your skills, find out if there is an online class or webinar option. This will avoid the time, gas and emissions of travel.
Choose green office supplies -- Post consumer content recycled paper and envelopes that have been processed and colored using eco-friendly methods. Pens and pencils can also be made of recycled materials, and refillable pens and markers are preferable to disposable ones. Recycling printer cartridges is often free, and recycled replacements are cheaper than new ones.
Print emails only when necessary – Some of us have a habit of printing every email whether we need to or not. Have a "Think before you print" closing sentence on emails.
Store information digitally on your computer rather than in paper files -- Paper comes from a valuable resource, is expensive to store (compared to computer file space) and expensive to move at the price of a stamp (compared to email which is much less expensive).
Choose to make copies on both sides rather than only one -- The average U.S. office worker goes through 10,000 pieces of paper a year. Making a simple choice to "duplex", when you are copying or printing, can save 35-40% of the paper that you use.
