This is guest post by Lloyd Burrell. He runs a website that offers detailed reviews of office desks; L-shaped desks, executive desks, computer desks, secretary desks and even green (recycled) desks.

Green Office Equipment — Myth or Reality?
It’s a reality, because we’ve all tried it. Certain office equipment is greener than other types, however, so we’ve got some advice to make your office so much greener that the office plant will be leaving you little thank you notes (on recycled paper of course). We’ll include everything we can think of for your office, including the supplies — so you can reduce/recycle/reuse and become the role model for your family, or the rest of your company, as well as perhaps the green hero or heroine of your neighborhood.

Office Machines Suck Up Power
They do, although manufacturers are getting better every day with the machines they produce. The newer equipment will generally have Energy Star status which is better for daily use and it does conserve energy. But read up on those Energy Saver settings sometimes the default setting is not that economical, you will need to tweak all of your machines as much as you can.

Of course, the biggest energy saver for office machines is the human brain. Turn it off when not in use!  Purchase the biggest energy savers when you buy new, and don’t purchase anything that’s from the dark ages, like the last decade, even if it’s on sale. Think for a moment why it’s on sale. Designate yourself as the power person in the office and unplug anything overnight, as well as occasionally checking out everyone’s equipment to make sure it’s running efficiently.

And for heaven’s sake — if you have any of those ancient computer monitors left that look like they use vacuum tubes, then recycle them. Be concerned about any office equipment you will be getting rid off and make sure that a recycling company isn’t just sending all of that poisonous material overseas and ditching their responsibilities and duty.

Toners & Inks
Printing is one of the biggest waste categories in the office. Always purchase your ink and toner cartridges from a re-manufacturer.  About a billion empty cartridges a year in our landfills pollute the environment with toxic fumes.  Always print duplex (both sides) of your recycled paper. This cuts ink and paper use by half. If you have a single document then put an empty paper box by the printer and be sure that everyone uses it when they also have one document (or they can use any number of the clean-on-one-side pieces of paper).  This saves a lot of money as well.

Be careful of the font you use and try and set your printer to draft mode, if you can. Ariel Black or even Arial is a thick font, while Courier or Courier New is light. You can save about a third of the ink you would have used if you choose a lighter and thinner font. There are many ways to save when you print, both for the environment and your budget.

Paper Myths & Other Things
You’ve heard the fallacy that recycled paper is dingy and ugly looking and of poor quality? Anyone who thinks that couldn’t be more wrong. Recycled paper comes in different brightness levels (i.e. 88 or above) and of different recycled content percentages. Shred paper when you’re done with it and use as packing material. You can also recycle white paper in most locations.

Be aware of the floors you walk on in your office. If they are cork or bamboo or linoleum, then they are renewable. The latter is often made from recycled products and bamboo grows so fast that farmers can barely keep up! Cork is the inner bark of a cork oak tree and grows back in just a few years. The tree lives and produces oxygen and when it’s ready to give again, it’s harvested. These trees live a long time and are often raised by several generations of one family.

Go Wireless and Reduce Toxicity in Office Machines
The more pieces of office equipment that don’t need cables and connectors and wires, the less that manufacturers pollute the atmosphere when they are made, and the less toxic fumes are in the air for humans to breathe as they make that copy or work on their computer. Also, a streamlined and clean office bespeaks of an organized and healthier attitude towards work itself. Extra bonus – you’ll work more efficiently.

In Summation
Reduce your use of office machines and supplies which use hard-to-recycle or toxic gas-emitting components. Think about how they were made and what was used in their manufacture (amount of recycled parts etc.). Do your part whenever you can so that your green office equipment is indeed a viable reality, and not a myth.