NEWS AND EVENTS

IGP implements comprehensive environmental office policies to demonstrate by its actions concern for, and protection of, the environment.

All office lighting, including lamps and other task lights, use linear or compact florescent bulbs (CFLs). CFLs use a quarter of the energy that incandescent bulbs do and they last ten times longer.

Turn off lights whenever leaving the room. There is no negative impact of turning lights on and off repeatedly.

Where renovating, consider the installation of occupancy sensors.

Instead of scan and print, scan and email.

Turn off all monitors when out for lunch, at a meeting or even when stepping away from your computer for a short break. Leaving your monitor on stand-by mode still consumes about 30% of normal use. Ensure that all computers are turned off at the end of the day, weekends, holidays, etc.

Change the settings (Start > Control panel > Power options) to automatically switch off monitors and/or shut down the computer when not in use. Screen savers do not save any energy. It is a myth that cycling computers on and off is harmful or inefficient.

Most copiers and fax machines have “energy saver” modes. Enable this feature if it is available.

Something we use every day but rarely think about are our chargers for cell phones, laptops, mp3 players. None of them have an off switch, so when they remain plugged into the wall, they are leaking energy. Using a power strip is a convenient way to manage your energy use; simply turn the strip off when not using the items plugged into it. Whenever possible, use rechargeable batteries. If you use regular batteries, recycle them.

Choose chlorine-free paper with a high recycled content. When chlorine bonds chemically with the carbon-based compounds in paper it produces dioxin and other toxic pollutants that do not break down in water and bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain. Look for TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) or PCF (Processed Chlorine Free) which indicates that the paper also uses recycled content that was not bleached with chlorine.

In addition to recycled content paper, there are a wide range of other recycled content office supplies including items you might not expect like staples, letter trays and scissors.

Re-use paper that is already printed on by manually feeding it into printers for draft documents.

Once-used paper can also be reused in plain paper fax machines and copy machines.

Adjust the margins for less than the software’s factory presets. By reducing the right and left margins from 1.5” to 1” you can fit 15% more information on a single page and more information per page equals fewer pages.

We recycle plastic, cans, glass and paper in our blue and yellow recycling containers.

Toner cartridges can be recycled from copy machines. Toner cartridges from laser printers can be recycled through the manufacturer. Simply send back the old cartridge to the manufacturer using the certificate or label provided.

IGP has made a commitment to the use and purchase of environmentally and socially responsible materials and products.

Credible, third-party certification programs can make responsible purchasing much easier. Look for the label, examples are: Energy Star (http://www.energystar.gov/) office equipment, lighting, appliances and electronics; GreenGuard (http://www.greenguard.org/) furniture, flooring and construction materials; Forest Stewardship Council (http://www.fscus.org/) wood products including paper and furnishings; Cradle to Cradle Certification (http://www.mbdc.com/c2c/) office seating, workstations, fabrics, carpet fibers, wall coverings, whiteboards and window shades; EPEAT (http://www.epeat.net/) computers and monitors; Green Label Plus (http://www.carpet-rug.org/commercial-customers/green-building-and-the-environment/green-label-plus/index.cfm) carpeting.