Ideas for going green

The recent Stern Report estimates that climate change could shrink the world's economy by 20 per cent, but taking action now to improve our individual effect on this could improve our chances dramatically. In the UK, we are fortunate enough to be able to access technologies, such as broadband, that play a key role in reducing resource consumption. Broadband enables users to deliver large files electronically - saving vast amounts of paper on a daily basis - and Internet connectivity to make home and remote working possible.

With fewer miles travelled, less energy consumed and fewer hotel bills, as a result of remote working, the carbon savings are racking up, which is vital for our environment. Here are a few top tips from Nildram for going green in every day life.

1. Reduce waste - It may sound obvious but we all produce a lot of waste, whether it's used paper or food wrappers. Simple measures, such as setting photocopiers and printers to automatically print double-sided in the office and using scrap paper as notepads, can literally halve paper consumption and associated purchasing and disposal costs. At home, try to bring less waste into your house by purchasing products with less packaging.
2. Recycling - Around 70 per cent of waste is paper, but only 15 per cent actually gets recycled. Don't throw waste paper in the bin! Recycling it can vastly reduce waste. There is much more to recycling than just paper. Printer cartridges, plastic cups, drinks cans and glass coffee jars can all be used again to make more coffee jars or drinks cans.
3. Save energy - Switch off lights, TV standbys, microwaves and computer monitors at the end of the day. A fluorescent tube uses 500 times more energy if left on for 15 minutes, than the energy needed to restart it. Buy energy saving light bulbs too!
4. PC energy - It is a common misconception that screen savers reduce the energy used by monitors. In fact, automatic switching to sleep mode or manually turning monitors off is a lot more efficient.
5. PC recycling - Remember to responsibly recycle any gadget or gizmo you have finished with. Politicians have taken action over the growth of potentially hazardous waste produced by the technology industry in the form the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive. The aim is to make sure only a fraction of the waste that currently ends up in landfill is disposed of this way. Electrical goods contain some fearsome elements, including lead and cadmium. In a single PC, for example, these toxins pose no threat, but when thousands of such devices are buried in landfill sites the risk of the toxins leaking into the water supply becomes apparent. Find out more at the WEEE Man website www.weeeman.org.

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