GoGreenIdeas

1. Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they don't leave behind any residue.


2. Save a bottle of wine. Broke the cork? No problem. Just place a filter over a pitcher and carefully pour the wine into it.


3. Line flower pots. Place a filter at the bottom of the pot to prevent soil from leaking out of the drainage hole.


4. Protect china and non-stick cookware. Place a coffee filter between dishes or pans when storing or packing.


5. Wipe off smudges. In a pinch, you can use to clean eyeglasses, camera lenses, televisions, and computer monitors.


6. Keep your microwave clean. Prevent splatters by covering dishes or bowls in the microwave with coffee filters. Using another plate is your best bet, but filters are a good alternative to plastic wrap. And you can easily reuse them a few times.


7. Make a bouquet garni. Tie up bay leaves, parsley, or other herbs in a coffee filter. Drop it in your stew or soup pot, and easily remove it when you're done cooking. Recipes often suggest cheesecloth for this process, but a coffee filter is an easy-to-find alternative.


8. Diffuse the flash on your camera. Place a coffee filter over your flash to soften the brightness. You can also try putting coffee filters over lights or lamps to lessen the harshness of direct light when taking indoor photos.


9. Make sachets. Tie lavender or other dried flowers and herbs in a coffee filter to make great-smelling bundles you can store in drawers and closets.


10. Use for sewing projects. Coffee filters make a great backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.


11. Make tea bags. Wrap loose tea in a filter and tie with a string.


12. Use for storage. Wrap Christmas ornaments and other rarely used fragile items before packing away. By Lori Bongiorno Read More from The Conscious Consumer blog

1. Try to use both sides of a sheet of paper for printing, copying, writing and drawing.
2. Reuse paper that's already printed on one side by manually feeding it into copiers and printers. Use it for internal documents like drafts and short-lived items such as meeting agendas or temporary signs.
3. Once-used paper can also be reused in plain paper fax machines — they only need one clean side.
4. Use less paperE-mail can be used to share documents and ideas. Be sure to only print the e-mails you need to have a hard copy of. This advice goes for Internet documents as well. Instead of printing a Web page, bookmark it or save the page on your hard drive and pull it up when needed.
5. Desktop fax, electronic references (CD-ROM databases), electronic data storage, electronic purchasing and direct deposit are all ways to use electronic media that reduce office paper waste.
6. Help minimize misprints by posting a diagram on how to load special paper like letterhead so it will be printed correctly.
7. Practice efficient copying — use the size reduction feature offered on many copiers. Two pages of a book or periodical can often be copied onto one standard sheet.
8. Use two-way or send-and-return envelopes. Your outgoing envelope gets reused for its return trip.
9. Use reusable inter- and intra-office envelopes.
10. Reuse old paper for notepads. It can be cut to custom sizes and simply bound with a staple.
11. Draft documents can be reviewed, edited and shared on-screen.

Manufacturers know that flashy packaging translates into increased sales, but Much of this packaging is unnecessary. There’s a ton of material we continue to schlep home when shopping — the cellophane, unrecyclable bags, plastic, and cardboard used in the packaging of many common items. A fantastic, and such an easy eco-friendly action for most of us to take is to carrying our own reusable shopping bags to the grocery store when we goes to shop

As consumers, there are a number of items we can use or purchase in order to reduce our consumption of excess packaging here are 15 Ways to Reduce Food Packaging:

1. Bring a travel mug whenever you go to your favorite coffee shop. Many cafes will fill your mug at no additional charge, eliminating the need for those one-use styrofoam cups with plastic lids.
2. Use a reusable, stainless steel drinking bottle instead of individual drink boxes or bottles.
3. Buy fresh fruits and vegetables instead of produce in cans, frozen boxes and bags.
4. Buy in bulk, using your own containers from home to eliminate the use of can, carton, and plastic bag packaging.
5. 5. Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins.
6. Buy big boxes of cereal instead of individually packaged cereals.
7. Never buy individual “snack-sized” boxes or bags.
8. When washing non-bagged greens, use a salad spinner. That way you won’t have to use paper towels to blot the greens dry.
9. Buy quarts of yogurt instead of eight-ounce or smaller cups.
10. Use cloth or a gold coffee filter rather than paper filters.
11. Buy bulk cheese instead of individually wrapped slices.
12. Make your own popsicles using reusable molds, rather than buying boxed popsicles. Be sure to use BPA-free molds.
13. Use metal and ceramic baking pans instead of aluminum disposable pans.
14. Use loose tea instead of one-use tea bags.
15. DIY, green cleaning products instead of commercial cleaning products. Care2 is a great resource for recipes for these easy to prepare recipes, from window cleaner to furniture polish.

• Reuse envelopes and send them through the mail again whenever possible. We understand that business do not like to send some types of mail in used envelopes for reasons of corporate image. However, many businesses conduct a fair amount of mailing of types where corporate image in not a factor. For this type of mailing, use labels to cover the old address on used envelopes. Some companies sell reuse labels for envelopes, which have a discrete message at the bottom explaining that this envelope was reused to save trees.
• Have each staff persons set aside paper that they use on only one side, so that it can be reused for printing drafts in your printer, or glued together to make scratch pads. As staff accumulate paper, they can transfer it to a centrally located storage box, possibly next to a printer or photocopiers.
• Use padding compound, the glue that holds paper together in tablets, to make scratch pads form your paper that was used only on one side. Padding compound is available from many office supply stores. You can clamp the edge of the paper together with blocks of wood and C-clamps, or you can invest in a small paper padding press. Several types are sold for well under $150.
• Buy "recycled" toner cartridges, and send your spent toner cartridges to be "recycled". Commercially, this is referred to as recycling, but it is actually a form of reuse.
• Encourage staff to use reusable coffee mugs when they pick up coffee in the morning on their way into the office. Hang a mug reuse poster in your break room.
• Invest in rechargeable batteries and battery chargers for digital cameras, flashlights, and other small devices. If your staff can be trusted to not accidentally throw away or loose the rechargeable batteries, in the long run it would be cheaper and better for the environment. More Information.

• Proofread onscreen before printing
• Copy & paste only what you need to print
• Don’t print unnecessary emails
• Reuse documents/copies if possible

Benefits of using less:

• Storage and handling. Paper is bulky to store, in boxes or in file cabinets. By using fewer sheets, you can put storage space to more productive use. For example, Owens Corning recently made all of its offices worldwide "paperless." Having had 14,000 file cabinets around the world, the company has already saved around $30 million in lease costs.
• Mailing costs. Fewer sheets mailed may mean reduced postage. A single-sided 10-page letter costs $0.63 to send by U.S. first class ; that same letter, copied onto both sides of the paper, uses only five sheets and requires only $0.39 in postage. The price of postage is rising, and those extra ounces can really add up.
• Environmental benefits. By increasing double-sided copying (duplexing), U.S. offices could reduce annual paper use by 20 percent (Inform, Inc). By using and discarding less paper, you are conserving resources, reducing water and energy use, and preventing pollution.

If you are self-employed and work form home, simply extend your household efforts to recycle, save energy and reduce consumption to your home office.

• Plug all your office equipment into a power bar and turn it off at the end of the day.
• Switch to energy efficient lighting and try to use electronic communications as much as your business relationships allow.
• Don’t forget to congratulate yourself on your entrepreneurial spirit and your reduced environmental footprint. By not driving to work and occupying additional office space, you are off to a great, green start.

Office workers can also green the business world by implementing some of the energy efficiency ideas above.

• Carpooling and public transit not only cut vehicle emissions, they reduce traffic congestion and give you a break from behind the wheel.
• “Brown-bagging” it (and re-using the bag) for lunch reduces the amount of food wrappers, plastic cutlery and drink containers in the office. There are many great re-usable, recyclable food containers on the market, as well as stainless steel containers for hot and cold drinks.
• And don’t forget to bring your own coffee cup - it’s an opportunity to reveal your personal style.

Employers can be green leaders in the work world. The size of your business does not matter. Small businesses are the foundation of national economies and if everyone made a commitment to a greener operation, the cumulative effect would be staggering.

• Install low-flow toilets in the washrooms when the time comes to renovate.
• Subsidize bus passes for employees.
• Install secure bicycle racks.Consider motion activated lighting for Board rooms and offices.