Your Green Office
Call us on 1300 669 441
The green office is on your agenda now. You have begun the journey: recycling your paper and you have in place a green cleaning service with phosphate free products. Now that your work place is healthy and supported by enviornemntally sustainable products, you are now on the road to a Green Office Evolution.
Introducing “Hatch Generation”, specialists in sustainability strategisies for your business or organization. Find out how you can benefit from the “new rules”of business . Knowing what you know about the urgency for Green, there is no turning back. You may even agree that your staff need to know this. Its your staff where you will get the most support. If you do this effectively and strategically you will retain and attract great people to your organization. The benefits such as client loyalty as more and more business would rather do business with organizations that care: care about our environment and our children’s future. There is now enough evidence to show that companies on this path are more profitable. It makes sense. Your people are more motivated. Hatch was set up knowing full well that just knowing what to do is not enough. Practice gets forgotten. To make organizational behavioral change happen it will be worth exploring the strategy that Hatch Generation embraces. Allow them to hatch ideas with you and create an environmental sustainability plan that is fun and effective to implement and involves your whole work force. Take a look at some of the services which start with the 3 modules to kick start your Green and Sustainable business organization: From the understanding elements that inspires, to the action plan and achieving by taking action, the journey to greening your business begins.
Through process of workshops, presentations and mentoring, the organisation develops a shared vision of sustainability which inspires a contribution from participants beyond traditional ‘habits’ and understandings into new, creative and internally empowered paradigms of individual and group success.
Making a Responsible Difference
Toxicity
Most cleaning products include potentially harmful additives such as chlorines and sulfates. These chemical ingredients break down into harmful substances, which threaten our waterways, fish and other wildlife.
Planet Earth’s non-toxic product range doesn’t include chemicals like phosphates, sulphates, petroleum solvents or benzene detergent bases. They meet the Australian Standard AS1972, with 80% of the product biodegrading within 21days. As a result our environmental impact is greatly reduced.
Energy Use
Most electricity companies offer a ‘green power’ option at a slightly higher unit price. By electing to use a renewable energy source you minimise your organisation’s environmental impact.
Make a difference in your workplace by buying energy efficient fluorescent lighting and refrigerators and by making it staff policy to turn off appliances at the switch at the end of each day.
For more information visit the ESGA website.
Water Use
Industry is responsible for the majority of water usage and all businesses need to make an effort to reduce their water consumption. There are many simple tips to help save this precious resource. For example
- If your toilet has a leak it probably loses half a litre of water every hour. This equates to 4,400 litres per year. Alternatively you could install dual flush toilets and waterless urinals.
- A tap leaking at the rate of one drop per second will waste more than 12,000 litres of water a year. Installing a regulator on all of your taps will save water and money.
- Dishwashers can use between 1.6 and 4.8 litres per cycle. Installing a water efficient dishwasher, and only doing a load when it is full, will save water.
Waste reduction
Industry is responsible for the majority of landfill. You can reduce the amount of waste your office produces by
- placing paper, glass and plastic items into recycling bins and have them collected by a recycling company
- managing your inventory office stock and buying in bulk to reduce packaging
- thinking about it before you print. Do you really need to print or can you store the information electronically?
- using the blank side of a document as scrap paper
- centralising your photocopier to one floor so your employees will think twice about printing unnecessarily.
Save Money, reduce consumption and lower your impact on our environment:
Now that you are ready for more challenges, lets move on ….
We can start with a great old saying, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”
The following audits will help you to know where you are and what you can achieve next.
Paper Audit:
Waste audits are a frame work to measure your waste disposal. There is an old business saying, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”. To manage your waste is a great start to reducing your waste. At Planet Earth – we can help you!.
For more information visit the Hatch website.
Waste audit:
As more and more companies are considering and even electing to have a Green Star rated building: (this is the Environmental Rating System for Buildings) the requirement to audit ones waste will be a criteria. Encouraging business to reduce waste and/or finding alternative ways to positively manage waste greatly benefits the reduction of green house gases. Contact us for more details .
Products – Waste
Below we’ve uncovered some useful information for you to better understand: Life cycles of products, recycle and reuse etc.
At Planet Earth we can arrange all sorts of waste pick up services for you:
- Recycling bottles, cans, plastics and glass
- Recycling paper and card board
- General pick up service for land fill
- Sanitary bin pick up (either serviced 13 or 26 times per year)
Waste products:
- Waste containment system that creates compost without mess, smell and sealed so as to not attract vermin
- Degradable bin liners (instead of the traditionally plastic bin liners that take 500 years to break down in land fill, these degradable bags take only 2 years).
Waste reduction:
Understanding “life cycles” -
If one really considered the energy it takes to make a product, store it, use it and then dump it, delivery it and let it land some where that isn’t beneficial for either us or the planet then you may wish to consider what you consume.
At Planet Earth and in many of our workshops we refer to this as the difference between Conscious Consumption, Unconscious Consumption and no consumption at all: the latter being impossible. However considering your very own personal consumption is a great way to reducing. Packaging is not always considered. Take a look at the first example of a products life cycle then the same would apply to the packaging.
Let’s take a packet of chips. The chips were originally farmed as potatoes. The work to plant them, the amount of water used for growth, the insecticides ( manufactured and delivered), potatoes are then picked, delivered by truck to where they are machined peeled, sliced, cooked, and packaged. Then they are stored waiting to be sold. They are then delivered by truck to a warehouse and then ready to go on a shop shelf. What if they were placed in a vending machine? Vending machines are usually left on 24/7 – consider the power consumed. The packet of chips are purchased. Then it takes usually a few minutes, if that to eat a packet of chips and it’s over. The last remaining item is the packaging – thrown into a bin, collected and taken to land fill. How long does the packaging last there for? 500 years, maybe more!
Now that was a lot of explaining for something that only took a few indulgent minutes to eat. Could you cut down on things? Now that you know it is amazing how much we waste.
Re use
Why throw out or even recycle a glass or plastic bottle when perhaps you could use it again? Maybe there is some one else who could use it. The amount of energy it takes to create a product compared to virtually nil energy to re-use it. It may need to be cleaned and as long it doesn’t need to travel far to be re-used then why not consider the benefits. Just because it could be recycled, it still takes a lot of energy in this process. However, it takes far less energy to recycle then it does to produce from scratch.
Recycle
Not much explanation is needed. The beginning of the “Green Journey” often starts with paper recycling, then plastics and bottles. There are few things worth knowing. With plastic bottles - Taking the lid off your bottles - before putting them into recyled bins as they cause havoc if they are kept on. Some say it is because they use a different plastic. While this is often true, the main reason is when the machines press the bottles to achieve more space. The air compressed from a sealed plastic bottle can often stop the process costing time and money.
Recycle in the “right” way
It is only fair to place the right thing in the correct bin. You may not know this – drinking glasses don’t melt at the same temperature as glass bottles and jars. It is worth considering this, as not all glass is recyclable. You’re fine with bottles and jars.
Reducing your waste -
Waste audits are a frame work to measure your waste disposal. There is an old business saying, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”. To manage your waste is a great start to reducing your waste. At Planet Earth – we can help you!
Becoming conscious of unnecessary packaging – you may wish to consider deliberately buying products with less packaging.
Who needs it? There is no doubt about it; in most cases packaging is required for all sorts of reasons. However, there are times that we must all think that a product has been over done, over packaged.
If you can’t avoid the packaging then at least consider this: buy packaged goods with packaging that can be recycled.
The Aerobin – this would be one of the most revolutionary waste systems I have come across. This is a waste containment system. You simply put all your food wastes into this container which turns into great compost for your garden. The unique aeration core means no smells and completely sealed from vermin. Apart from paper being thrown out, food scraps is the next biggest amount of waste to be dumped into landfill. The solution to eliminate a waste that used to turn into green house gases can now be great as a compost for your garden.
Unused mobile phones and computer equipment
What are you doing with your old mobile phones, computer equipment etc.??? Talk to us at Planet Earth and we will find a safer method of disposal.
Paper audits
Another great way to reduce your waste is to use less paper. Here’s a brilliant way to achieve this.
a software program that monitors how much each work station is printing out and the soft ware that is being used for print: results are provided in various formats: for example graphs, numeric linked to specific works stations.
As an example, once you understand the staff that are in the habit of printing their emails then all that need happen is to make them aware of it. It is not about pointing the finger at anyone. However, it is amazing that once one knows consciously what one is doing “unconsciously” their habit can be changed over night. Imagine how much money you could save – even better the satisfying feeling that you are not using up unnecessary resources (even the power of the printer operating has been reduced): less electricity and more trees.
Recycled paper versus Plantation grown forest paper
Let’s begin: We have not found a clear answer for general office paper. However, at Planet Earth we have good reason for choosing the supply of Paper Hand Towels and Toilet Paper from plantation grown – proven to be a responsible tissue manufacturing process. At this stage it appears to the best solution for a total sustainable system. The chosen wood pulp never comes from rain forest or environmentally sensitive areas.
At Planet Earth we recycle when it is shown that this is the best approach.
Recycled paper comes from a process whereby it needs to be de-inked. For every 2 tonnes of recycled toilet paper produced, 1 tonne becomes sludge. This sludge is delivered to landfill. Interestingly this sludge produces methane. Methane is a harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.
Don’t be alarmed if you thought you were doing the right thing before about your choice of toilet paper. The whole point of razing this with you is that until you are informed, then how can you possibly understand how to take action. Now that you know, you can make an informed decision.
Recycled paper is still a good thing. Our preference at Planet Earth is to choose plantation forest paper for your toilet paper.
Bin liners
At Planet Earth we use degradable plastic bin liners – instead of breaking the bags down in 500 years, they take only 2 years.