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'Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.' These words were spoken by Edmund Burke, a sixteenth century Irish statesman. Undoubtedly he was not referring to implementing greener business practices. Nevertheless, his words ring true and seem to highlight one of the leading causes of paralysis in effecting a change of wasteful habits at the office. This notion that your action is so small that it is lost in the grand scheme of things could not be further from the truth. Everyone, from the head honcho to the cubicle dweller has the power to make a positive difference.

The idea of making processes and products greener has certainly made its way around the globe. The following statistics on paper consumption illustrate why we should not make light of this. The US went through more than 85 million tons of paper and paper products in 2006. Corporate America accounts for a large portion of this number with the average office worker using 10,000 sheets of copy paper annually. It's no surprise therefore that paper makes up 90 percent of all office waste by weight.
Worldwide forest ecosystems are critical to maintaining life on earth. They filter the air, stabilize climate by absorbing CO2, and provide habitat for 90 percent of all land-dwelling plants and animals. The most effective way for offices to protect forests is to reduce overall paper consumption. This can be done in various ways, including simply reducing page marginsusing 3/4 inch margins on all sides of a piece of paper saves 19 reams of paper (or 1.14 trees) on a ton of paper. If everyone in the US used these margins more than 6 million trees annually would be saved. This is a true example of a small action having a huge cumulative effect.
We would like to challenge all employees to form a Green Team at their workplace. A green team is a group of employee volunteers who look for ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle in the office. They team up to bring their individual skills and passion together to change behavior among their peers.
Their efforts not only help the environment, but they can improve the company's bottom line. Offices with green teams enjoy the benefits of lower electricity bills, less waste, and engaged employees who build project management, communications, and leadership skills as they plan their eco-friendly campaigns. It's a win-win situation.

Follow the steps below and you will have your green team up and running in no time.

Be sure to have the

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