At SecurityRI.com, we are dedicated to contributing to a sustainable future for our planet through reduced consumption, waste and pollution.
Our office makes a considerable effort to reuse what we have and recycle everything we can. We strive to buy, sell, and use environmentally friendly products, while educating our employees, customers and other businesses believing together we can make a difference.
Energy
We shut off our monitors and/or manually send our computers into energy-saving modes (standby or hibernate) when not in use and turn them off at night.
As backup, we enabled the Office for Sustainability’s (OFS) recommended power management settings on our computers. If changing these settings requires administrative rights, we’ve contacted our IT group for assistance.
We have sleep mode enabled on all copiers and all printers after five minutes or more of inactivity.
All lights are turned off when not in use during the day and at night, including in common areas such as kitchens, conference rooms, storage closets and bathrooms. We have posted prompts on light switches, where applicable.
We send, or will send, an e-mail to our staff before holidays and breaks containing an energy saving checklist.
Recycling
There are recycling bins in all common areas where trash bins are present, such as in kitchens, break rooms, conference rooms, mail room, and copy rooms.
In our office, recycling signs are clearly posted on or near recycling bins.
We spent several minutes reviewing proper recycling practices at a recent staff meeting to ensure that all members of our office are aware of the rules and had their questions answered.
We provide recycling bins at events and meetings sponsored by our office.
When we need to dispose of office furniture and equipment, we contact Facilities/Operations to see if it can be salvaged and reused elsewhere.
Publications
If we publish a newsletter, we offer an electronic version that readers can select instead of the paper version.
Green Vehicles
We use hybrid cars in our fleet to optimize on environmental advantages, which include reduced emissions and less fuel consumption. Hybrid cars produce fewer gas emissions than conventional gasoline-engine vehicles. And with less fuel consumption the importance of expanded drilling will be diminished, which would benefit the environment. Also, when a hybrid car isn’t using its gas engine, the motor is nearly silent. This not only gives you a quiet ride while driving but also helps reduce the noise pollution that comes from many noisy vehicles on the road.
Purchasing
For printing and copying, our office only uses paper containing at least 30 percent recycled content.
Before we purchase office furniture, such as file cabinets, desks, etc., we check to see if Facilities/Operations have any surplus in stock or can obtain any.
Before purchasing new furniture, we consider more sustainable furniture options.
If we must purchase new (or used) appliances and equipment (printers, copiers, microwaves, etc.), we only purchase Energy Star or EPEAT certified models.
Waste Reduction
We print or copy to both sides of a page whenever possible. Double-siding is set as a default on our office computers and we placed a visual prompt on our copy machine to remind members of our office to double-side whenever possible.
In order to save paper when printing and copying, we reuse paper that has text on only one side whenever appropriate. We keep a scrap paper pile near our printer and/or copier.
We use inter-office instead of regular envelopes whenever possible and promote the redistribution of inter-office envelopes in our office or department.
