Today companies talk of green buildings and green initiatives but end up in spending more energy. They spoil green lush fields and stand majestically (!) as a giant concrete, steel and glass structure.
Green crime -1.
Air conditioning the entire structure 24/365
Green Crime-2.
Bringing the work force spending much fossil fuel without using the public transport systems
Green Crime-3
Allowing countless computer systems on for endless hours
Green Crime-4
Lighting the interiors 24/365
Green Crime-5
If the work of Arizona can be done in Chandigarh in India, why not the same from the employees' homes?
Green Crime-6
Corporate workforce consumes more polythene and plastic as they don't bring lunch and spend much for food and soft drinks in their cafeteria
Green Crime-7
Their offices are having very restricted entries and the commoner doesn't know how much they waste.
Solutions:
JUST KEEP OPEN THE 'Windows' OF YOUR BUILDINGS TOO.
Beware SOFTWARE and B.P.O industry may fuel the economy but also burn the economy and the earth.
WE NEED FARMERS TO PRODUCE FOOD AND COTTON.
WE NEED DRIVERS TO NAVIGATE THE VEHICLES ACROSS WATER, SURFACE AND AIR SPACE
WE NEED DOCTORS AND SO ON...
A GREEN WORKPLACE consumes less, wastes less and builds more the things that conserves this earth..
Green workplaces are dedicated to cutting resource consumption whilst simultaneously pushing profit margins up.
Green corporations understand that if it is good for the planet, it is probably good for the office.
Green workplaces understand that energy, water and other resource bills can be manipulated and significantly reduced through green practices.
Whilst your conventional green workplace is dedicated to efficiency through reduced resource consumption, the modern green business is dedicated to ensuring that if there is waste, that waste is translated into value, so in other words zero waste is the objective.
Imagine cutting down paper consumption by 50 percent, or simply having every industry investing in technology that uses 40 percent less energy than conventional technology.
This would probably translate to reduced load shedding across all sectors, whilst significantly reducing operating expenses, for any organisation committed to sustainable development.
Good corporate citizenship may entail positively responding to the following questions
Does your organisation have a clear environmental policy? Does your organisation have realistic resource consumption reduction targets?
How much power, water or resource costs is the organisation prepared to reduce?
Has your company achieved verified reduction to date? (greenhouse gasses, paper consumption, water consumption, electricity consumption)
Does the company support public policy that could require mandatory climate change action by business?
Has the company invested in research and development to ensure more energy and resource efficient equipment is purchased or designed?
Does your company issue an annual environment report? Has your company supported any environmental campaigns over the past one year? Do you have plans laid out?
Does your company consider the environment as part of its business?
If responses to the above questions are mostly in the affirmative, it probably implies your organisation is pursuing a green strategy in one way or the other.
Nearly four billion trees are cut each year for paper, representing about 35 percent of all harvested trees.
The fact is world consumption of paper has grown 400 percent in the last 40 years.
This consumption of paper translates right down to the workplace, so no one is spared.
Have you ever asked yourself, how many trees your office is cutting down every year, or what damage your office alone has done to the environment?
Have you ever, as an organisation tried to explore what damage your entity as a whole is responsible for?
We have for long thought organisations that deal in natural resource explorations are solely responsible for the environmental and climate challenges being felt across the globe.
We all are aware that paper is made from trees, trees which require time to grow, the very same trees whose presence creates a carbon shield for our planet.
One ton of un coated virgin (non-recycled) printing and office paper uses 24 trees while one ton of 100 percent virgin (non-recycled) newsprint uses 12 trees.
A "pallet" of copier paper (20lb. sheet weight, or 20#) contains 40 cartons and weighs one tonne.
Therefore, one carton (10 reams) of 100 percent virgin copier paper uses six trees. One tree makes 16,67 reams of copy paper or 8 333,3 sheets and one ream (500 sheets) uses 6 percent of a tree (and those add up quickly!).
One tonne of coated, higher-end virgin magazine paper (used for magazines like National Geographic and many others) uses a little more than 15 trees (15,36) and one ton of coated, lower-end virgin magazine paper (used for news magazines and most catalogs) uses nearly eight trees (7,68)
From the above calculation, it means for every 17.7 reams of bond paper your organisation uses, you cut down a tree.
Trees are grown and harvested in 20 to 35 years cycles. So the fact is, every time your organisation uses 17.7 reams of bond paper, you would have cut down 20 to 35 years of tree life.
Are we saying do not print? No, what we are saying is that trees are renewable because they can be planted back.
But how many organisations are actually involved in planting back trees they cut?
Of the 30 million trees cut annually, it is reported that around 10 million trees are planted as replacements.
This means when next you hear of a tree planting initiative, you should seriously consider getting involved, the planet needs it, our future deserves it, and our present desires it.
Reusing, recycling and replanting trees can save the planet. Green practice encourages the responsible use of resources.
We have to assess the damage caused as a result of irresponsible use of energy and use of archaic equipment that is not eco-friendly.
It is key to consider energy consumption in efforts to green the workplace. Simple things like switching off lights in offices that receive adequate natural light, or at the end a working day, could knock off a couple of thousands from your energy bill annually and this means energy is actually used for productive purposes.
It is your moral obligation to invest in the environment. Your organisation can change the future today.
Be a part of history's future.
Courtesy: Prechard Mhako
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