by C L Smith

Created on: October 12, 2010   Last Updated: January 18, 2012

As a small business owner, you have an opportunity to ensure that the day-to-day decisions that you make regarding your home office supplies and equipment will not have a negative impact on the environment. Here are 29 eco-friendly tips to conserve resources and reduce waste and pollution while meeting your small business needs.

Buy energy-efficient office equipment. When you shop for your printer, copier or other equipment, look for the ENERGY STAR logo. This logo means that the product meets superior energy efficiency standards.

Buy all-in-one products. When possible, purchase products that perform more than one function. Doing so will save you money as well as conserve resources not to mention minimize the space required to store the equipment. An all-in-one fax machine/photocopier/printer/scanner is an example of such an eco-friendly product.

Purchase products with environmentally friendly functions. When you shop, make an effort to select products that incorporate environmentally friendly functions. For example, a 'duplex' printer allows you to print on both sides of the paper rather than just one. In addition, when you get the product home be sure to select double-sided printing as a printer default setting.

Set application defaults that conserve energy resources. Software provides the user the option to make certain settings to ensure the software meets the needs of the user. These settings can also be used to conserve resources and that ensures the use of the product will have less negative impact to the environment. For example, selecting the 'fast draft' option in your word processing programs will conserve ink and toner.

Select rechargeable batteries and batteries designed to reduce or eliminate the use of toxins.

Dispose of used computer equipment and supplies properly. Electronics can be recycled, resold and donated

rather than disposed of. Information related to all of these eco-friendly choices is available on the web. In addition, you can check with city and county governments for information related to the disposal of used computers and other electronics.

Make full use of your digital cameras. As you save your photos, you not only ensure that you have the opportunity to send photos via e-mail to friends and family but you also ensure you have the means to avoid paying for undesirable or unnecessary prints. In addition, sharing electronic photos has the trickle- down effect in that it encourages others in your family to do likewise.

Use electronic documents.

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