Ten ways to cut your carbon footprint at work

1 Measure and monitor your carbon footprint at work

If you are not aware of how much energy you consume at work or how big the carbon footprint of your organisation really is, you won't be able to appreciate the financial and environmental benefits that result from your efforts to reduce it!

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Install energy monitors on different types of office equipment to find out just how much energy they use. Look at the energy bill for your organisation and find out how much carbon dioxide (CO2) has been emitted. Monitoring electricity use saves IBM more than £370,000 every year*.

You can then identify the best ways your organisation can simultaneously reduce its carbon footprint and its energy bills. This will also provide a baseline from which to set office targets for energy reductions. You can set targets to reduce your overall energy consumption (by X per cent) and for specific activities, such as substituting business trips with video conferencing (see point six).

2 Switch off lights and equipment when not in use

How many office buildings and shops do you see all lit up long after the employees have gone home? Lighting an average-sized empty office overnight wastes enough electricity to make 1,000 hot drinks or print 800 sheets of paper. One solution is to appoint someone (on a rota) to ensure everything is turned off at the end of the day and during the day if it's not needed. If you have cleaners who come in after hours, ensure they do the same. Occupancy sensors work well for some businesses (the lights only come on in rooms/areas in use) and if your workplace has lots of windows, do you even need the lights on at all, especially in summer?

At the HSBC Headquarters Building in Mexico City, around 75 per cent of the occupied spaces have natural illumination. The light levels are closely monitored by an intelligent system that adjusts the artificial lighting, as required, to reduce energy usage. Implementation of this system will save 200 tonnes of CO2 each year.

But it's not just lighting. A typical office is full of equipment left on unnecessarily after hours, including computers, TV screens, vending machines and air conditioning units, all of which can be switched off or turned down. Marks & Spencer has achieved 5 per cent reductions in energy use each year by tracking in-store electricity use every 30 minutes via a computer system*. This means air conditioning, lighting and other equipment cannot be left on when not in use.

A survey conduced by the National Energy Foundation (NEF) and computer company 1E revealed that 1.7 million computers were left on overnight and at weekends in 2005, creating emissions equivalent to 120,000 4x4s and costing £115m in electricity. How many times have you sat at your desk with your computer on when you're not actually using it? While you may find it inconvenient to turn your computer off and on several times a day, the computer monitor is another matter. Monitors use about two thirds of the energy required to power the computer, so turn your monitor off when you're not using it. And you may think the screen saver is saving energy for you but, in fact, a moving screen saver saves no electricity at all.

Putting your computer into sleep mode will reduce the amount of energy it uses by 60-70 per cent. And if you can, turn it off. After just 16 minutes of not using your computer, it's more energy efficient to turn it off and restart it than to keep it on. Most IT equipment now has power-management features, so make sure these are activated on yours.

3 Unplug chargers

You may not realise it but laptop, mobile phone and BlackBerry chargers continue to charge (using up to 95 per cent of the power) even when no longer attached to the device. So you must remember to unplug chargers and if you turn your mobile phones and BlackBerries off at night, you'll only have to charge them half as much.

4 Print responsibly

Printing e-mails is often unnecessary and a waste of both paper and electricity. How many times have you printed a whole chain of e-mails, spanning many pages, when you only wanted the first one or two? Think before you print and whatever the document is, consider whether you need a hard copy or can manage without.

If you do have to print e-mails, ensure you only print the pages you need, or paste the relevant sections into a Word document and only print that. Find out if your office has duplex printers, which print double sided. They halve paper use and reduce energy consumption by an estimated 25 per cent.

Your office should also be routinely buying recycled paper or paper made from well-managed forests ­ the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo is the one to look out for (see www.fsc.org). Also look out for paper that's not as white as standard paper, as the less bleach used, the better it is for the environment.

5 Recycle in the office

The UK has one of the worst recycling records in Europe, so more businesses recycling would make a dramatic difference. Providing recycling bins for paper is an obvious and essential measure (the average Briton uses more than 200kg of paper each year and yet only around 65 per cent of this is recycled), but businesses can have a much bigger impact.

UK businesses throw away more than 1.5 million computers every year. More than 90 per cent of these are fully functioning and less than 5 per cent are refurbished for reuse. And don't forget that office essentials such as printer cartridges can also be refilled and reused.

Set up recycling bins for glass, cans, plastic, cardboard, etc, in your office. They'll soon fill up. HSBC recently removed 6,000 personal desk bins at its global HQ in London, in favour of a full, centralised recycling system. This has significantly increased the building's recycling rate and has resulted in diverting 1,500 tonnes of waste away from landfill. Any remaining waste that cannot be recycled is converted into fibre fuel, which generates electricity.

6 Think before you travel on business

Is your business trip really necessary? Or is there an equally effective way you can communicate? Lots of business is traditionally done face to face but, in this technological age, need it be? The usual modes of business travel ­ car and plane ­ won't help you reduce your company's carbon footprint.

Flying from Glasgow to London, for example, generates six times as much carbon dioxide as going by train. Taking the train also saves you time, as there are no lengthy check-in queues or security checks, and you can work more easily on the train, so travelling time is more productive. And let's not forget that flying business class is one of the most carbon-intensive ways to travel.

Aim to reduce your CO2 emissions from business travel by managing the absolute need to travel and by providing alternative means of communication, such as video conferencing. If you don't have video conferencing facilities in your office, suites can be hired for around £150 an hour. It's the next best thing to face-to-face meetings and the benefits are not just environmental but economic too. For larger corporations, in particular, installing unlimited video-conferencing facilities can result in major savings in annual travel costs, as well as reduced CO2 emissions.

The CO2 emissions produced from travelling to and from work are equally important to address. Organise car-sharing, cycle, walk or use public transport. The savings made can be up to 0.5kg of CO2 for every mile you don't drive. Employers can help, too, by providing loans for season railcards and gradually reducing spaces for parking.

7 Buy energy-efficient equipment and appliances

Look out for the Energy Saving Recommended logo on products such as insulation, light fittings, glazing and appliances. Products carrying it will save your company up to around 190kg of CO2 emissions and £45 a year. Philips achieved a 25 per cent reduction in energy use between 2001 and 2005 by investing in more energy efficient products, saving more than 150,000 tonnes of CO2.

All electrical kitchen appliances are rated from A-G, with A being the most energy efficient. If you're buying a kitchen appliance for your workplace, look for a model with a rating that saves as much energy as possible.

A similar system applies to IT and other office equipment. The Energy Star rating denotes the most energy efficient computers, monitors, copiers, printers and fax machines, etc, so make sure any new equipment your company buys carries this logo. If you can't choose what equipment or appliances are bought for your workplace, speak to someone in your purchasing department who can.

HSBC uses a special procurement tool called EPEAT, which helps to evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebooks and monitors based on their environmental attributes. This tool also provides clear and consistent information on the design of products. And it's an opportunity for manufacturers to secure recognition for their efforts to reduce the environmental impact of their products.

The management and maintenance of your office equipment is equally important. As tedious as it sounds, poorly functioning office equipment will cost you money and increase your carbon footprint. Review maintenance and cleaning schedules to ensure the optimum efficiency of your office equipment is achieved.

8 Buy green electricity

Have you thought about getting your company to switch to green electricity? Most energy suppliers offer competitive tariffs that provide green or renewable energy to help considerably reduce your carbon footprint. Energy generated from the sun, wind, water or biogas produces fewer or no CO2 emissions. By purchasing electricity from these renewable sources, your organisation would be helping to increase the global investment in and supply of renewable energy.

Since October 2004, almost all of BT's electricity needs have been supplied from wind, solar, wave, hydropower and combined heat and power (CHP) sources*. Since renewable energy is exempt from the UK Government's Climate Change Levy, these purchases have also been broadly cost neutral to the company.

9 Install micro-renewable technologies

In addition to buying green electricity, another initiative to consider is generating your own energy on-site from renewable sources. Micro-generation equipment, such as solar panels and wind turbines, has become more mainstream and is even available from some DIY stores.

First Direct in Stourton, Leeds, has recently installed 100m² of roof-mounted solar panels at its offices. These can generate in excess of 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each year. The panels make a significant contribution to reducing the energy requirements of the site's crèche and will reduce the building's carbon footprint by more than four tonnes.

The cost of solar panels and wind turbines starts at a few thousand pounds, and grants are available from the government. Private businesses, community organisations, schools, the public and not-for-profit sector, and householders can all apply. Log on to www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk to find out more about the scheme.

10 Champion change and increase awareness

We can all play a part in reducing our carbon footprint at work. From buying green electricity to switching your computer off at night, every little helps. Raising awareness through events is a great way of getting others in your organisation to play their part and champion change. Why not take part in World Environment Day, the United Nations Environment Programme's international environmental awareness-raising day, which is held on 5 June each year?

Encourage your colleagues to pledge their time and resources to benefit the environment. In 2007, HSBC used World Environment Day to promote the importance of tackling climate change and help encourage its employees to reduce their carbon footprint at work.

HSBC also recently announced a five-year, £50m partnership supporting Earthwatch, The Climate Group, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and WWF in many countries around the world. The HSBC Climate Partnership aims to help HSBC employees use their business skills and climate-change knowledge to reduce the impacts of the bank and create a 25,000-strong "green task force" worldwide. This task force will undertake field research and bring back valuable knowledge and experience to their workplaces and communities.

*Source: The Climate Group

The Big Debate

Let us know what you think. Tell us your suggestions for cutting your carbon footprint by e-mailing bigdebate@independent.co.uk.

A selection of your ideas will be published in The Independent’s Green Pages on 9 August 2007.