Recently, President Clinton’s foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, held a summit in Las Vegas to discuss many issues that impact our world. Perhaps one of the most surprising topics that came out of the summit was about green energy. Apparently, Wal-Mart, the retailer behemoth and efficiency icon, has green energy as one of its key concerns. And why wouldn’t it?
Raw materials and energy production are costly to businesses—both financially and environmentally. That’s a fact that Wal-Mart is willing to tackle head-on as an intrinsic part of its operating plan. But you don’t need to be one of the most influential companies in the world to embrace green habits. Using document management systems can make for an easy start toward a green office. Here are some easy tips that will get you closer to that goal.
Cut Down on Printing
Printing documents all the time can be pretty costly, and yet it’s still a habit in many offices. Instead, consider accessing your documents using cloud computing, or some other type of mutual data center. You’ll find that you cut toner and paper costs, and well as the cost of running big copy or fax machines all the time. Also having no documents means that there will be nothing to ship. Cut your transportation budget and your carbon emissions!
Collaborate Online
Cut out traveling to collaborate whenever it’s possible. Even for commutes or on-site trips, this will reduce the budgetary costs and account for a smaller carbon footprint. And if you skip those meetings that require extended stays, you can save your organization an average of $400 per day per employee who’s traveling!
Agile Document Servers
Consider this: a single server is often sufficient for holding an entire document management system (depending on the size of your office). What’s more, that server might account for savings in energy costs, facilitate a better workflow and make the entire office more efficient, and allow employees access to key documents through web interfaces and cloud solutions—which allow for mobility. In the right conditions, that might mean you can approach the ultimate in green offices: no office at all.
Fertile Topic
Document management is clearly just one way that you can get closer to realizing a green office. If you’re interested in exploring the idea, check out our consulting page and get in touch to find out how we can help you. But while you’re thinking about it, what other ways would you explore to make your workplace more environmentally friendly? How would that benefit your organization? Are there any major challenges you can think of or have stumbled upon? Leave a comment below and tell us about your experiences with green energy.
