The
EPA New England
office
crafted a list of
115 things you can
do to reduce your
environmental footprint.
Check
it out.
Regardless of your job or where you live, you can lessen your impact on the environment while at home, out in your community, commuting to work, or working at your desk.
You can help by:
- Using less paper;
- Turning off lights when you leave a room;
- Using the energy- saving settings on your computer;
- Eating waste-free meals;
- Recycling your paper, cardboard, and beverage containers;
- Making double-sided copies;
- Taking public transportation, walking or biking instead of driving;
- And much more.
As a community of federal employees, our individual efforts, responsibilities, and everyday choices at home and at work can go a long way to fulfill our environmental stewardship goals. Your individual leadership is invaluable everyday.
This section will tell you what you as an individual can do at your office, home, and community. Other sections of the ESRG contain links to what other federal agencies are doing to comply with requirements. Please see those sections in each of the other areas of responsibility to link to your agency. If your agency is not included in our "What are other agencies doing?" section ask your facility's managers for which specific requirements you are responsible.
- Check with your state and local governments and other environmental organizations
to:
- Identify specific requirements for your locality;
- Find out how you can increase your knowledge and awareness; and
- Keep you home environmentally healthy.
If you don’t know where to look, start at USA.gov, which features links to all state government internet sites and many local sites.
- Look up your state environmental agency's specific requirements.
Many of the actions you take at work, you can take at home – or vice versa. In general, you should do the following:
- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Practice the three Rs: first reduce how much you use, then reuse what you can, and then recycle the rest. Lastly, dispose of what is left in the most environmentally friendly way.
- Safely dispose of your electronics equipment, such as cell phones and computer equipment.
- Save energy. Use less electricity, buy energy-efficient appliances, replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, insulate properly, fix leaks and turn off lights when not using them.
- Conserve water. Turn it off completely, don’t let it run, install water-efficient faucets and shower heads, repair leaks and use water more efficiently outside, too.
- Use less toxic chemicals inside and outside for cleaning, pest management, and other household hazardous waste.
- Everything you buy affects the earth, but some choices have a lesser impact. Educating yourself about the products you buy can empower you to make a difference in protecting the planet. It's called "green purchasing," and it's easy to do. To learn more about purchasing, visit the purchasing section of this guide.
- Reduce waste and recycle. Learn more about what
you can do in your workspace and at home.
- Conserve energy in the office and at home. Simple actions at
the office include:
- Turning
off conference room and office lights when they are not being
used.
- Turning your task lights
off at the end of your work day.
- Enabling your computer's sleep function to save
energy when you are away from your desk.
- Shutting down your computer at the
end of your work day.
- Take public transportation, carpool, bike, or walk to work and meetings.
- Consider driving a greener vehicle and other transportation options.
- Print only when necessary; print and photocopy double-sided.
- Start reading product labels.
- Make sure your appliances and electronic products are ENERGY STAR qualified.
- EPA’s Sustainability Web page includes a list of sites with suggestions and tips on how you can contribute to sustainability in your roles as a consumer and citizen—and as a steward of the environment.
- Review the EPA New England Office Green Team's list of 110 things you can do to reduce your environmental footprint.
- Start a green team, or contact your office’s green team
coordinators to find out the priorities of your team and
how you can contribute.
- Plan green meetings and events. To learn how and why, go to
the green meetings and
events page of this guide.
- Don’t forget to find out what your neighborhood, town, county or state is already doing. Help them do more! The www.usa.gov Web site has state and local government links.
- Learn about the specific responsibilities related to your job
by exploring other sections of the guide that most closely
relate to your position. To see other sections, return
to the main page and select a different wedge of the wheel.
At Home and In the Garden
The links below include tips for home safety, avoiding potential risks, and preventing pollution by recycling and conserving water and energy.
At Work
These links provide additional tips on preventing pollution in the workplace and raising awareness of health and safety issues.
In Our Children’s Classrooms
- These links answer questions about how to protect our children, who are our most precious resource.
- Healthy School Environments is a gateway to online resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.
- At EPA for Students and Educators, educators, students and environmental professionals can discover the following information: Learn about how they can become involved, create lessons, apply for grants, prevent and reduce exposure to unhealthy emissions and chemicals and much more.
Out Shopping
You can encourage the stores where you shop to add green merchandise and practices to their everyday operations. Visit the links below for more information.
Here are two guides to help:
In Your Community
Visit these resources for information about protecting your community’s environment.
On the Road
EPA has information on the environmental impacts of transportation.
There are many resources on the Internet to tell you all you need to know about being environmentally responsible. This guide will give you a good start toward finding what you need to know to make a difference.
These resources will help you to incorporate environmentally friendly behavior into various aspects of your everyday life, including at home, at work, in the classroom, in your community, and out shopping.
Don’t forget to celebrate Earth Day!
Energy Conservation
Federal
Non-Federal
-
The Earth 911 Energy Web site includes ways you can save energy, offers energy cost and conservation facts, and highlights other programs and efforts to save energy. It also links federal agencies, local governments, and community groups together into one resource.
-
The Alliance to Save Energy’s Consumers Web site has lots of information on saving money, increasing comfort and reducing pollution through energy efficiency.
-
For lots of ideas on what you can do individually, the New American Dream always has up-to-date information.
-
The Greening EPA Green Printing and Copying Web page has information on the environment-friendly Document Production Center.
-
This Paper Calculator enables organizations to understand and improve their paper use.
- Reduce.org has tips for cutting paper use in the office, such as duplexing (printing on both sides of the paper).
EPA/Federal
Non-Federal
There are many places you can go for formal and informal training. Local colleges, universities, adult education programs, service organizations, and non-profit organizations may all provide instruction.
- EPA and other agencies have intranet training sites. Be sure to check with your resource manager to find out what training your agency may have.
- Most cities and counties also have programs. Check with local agencies and adult education programs.
- Here are some additional tips for acting in an environmentally responsible manner.
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