"Everyday Offices and Their Affect on the Environment"

By Darrel R.
Green Office Store.com's Associate Content Editor
September 1, 2007

What do you have in your office? A computer? A copy machine? A fax machine? In today's world, it is impossible to imagine any type of business turning a profit without these time-saving devices that allow us to create, produce and communicate. And what about a water cooler with those handy disposable cone-shaped cups, a coffee maker with a neat stack of styrofoam cups, or a mini refrigerator filled with individual soda pop bottles? Can we even imagine getting through the day without this “brain fuel?”

The Trend of Going Green

We have been graced, in the 21st century, with a plethora of consumer goods that make our work environment pleasant. In fact, most goods are no longer considered a luxury but an absolute necessity. However, all goods come with a price tag; and that price is not necessarily monetary. All products have some impact on the environment, which may occur at any or all stages of the product's life cycle - raw material acquisition, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal.

Consumerism Versus Environment

Non-green offices hurt the environment by using and discarding many, many transparency films, single-use pens, printer cartridges and clipboards. A recent Green Report found that 1.6 million pens that can only be used once are used each year in just the United States. The report found that 15-million pounds of polyester transparency films are thrown away in the U.S. annually and that if businesses would remanufacture their ink cartridges, they would be saving about $1.5 billion each year.

Office Furniture

There may be a trend towards respecting and even saving the environment, but Americans face especially tough obstacles - namely, American consumerism. For better or for worse, we have been transformed into a consumer society. We have come to expect convenience in the form of disposable products. There is no better evidence of this than in the office environment. In addition, Americans work more hours than any other society. And those extra hours translate to more disposable cups, plastic bottles, ink and toner cartridges, batteries and paper being tossed in the garbage can.

According to the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, the average American office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. In fact, Americans throw away enough office paper each year to build a 12-foot high wall stretching from New York to San Francisco. Furthermore, two and a half million plastic bottles are used in the United States every hour. And did you know that plastic materials from ink and toner cartridges end up in our landfills? Several dozen cartridges are sent to the garbage every minute.

So the next time you utilize the drive through window at your favorite coffee shop and pick up a double latte on your way into the office, think about what will happen to that cardboard cup and plastic lid when you are done with it.