Justice
Management Division
Serving Justice - Securing Results
DOJ encourages employees to take steps to reduce
their environmental impact while at the office. Here are a few
tips to help you get started. If you don’t have control over some
of these items, talk to the person who does.
Please contact Renae Steichen with any questions, comments, or other ideas on how to green DOJ.
- Use Less Paper
- Print and copy documents on both sides of the paper
- Use electronic filing instead of printing
- Scan and email documents
- Conduct document reviews and provide comments electronically
- Use recycled content paper
- Government must use at least 30% post-consumer recycled
content paper, use as close to 100% recycled if you can
- Did you know: The average U.S. office employee uses
10,000 sheets of paper per year. It takes one tree to make
9,000 sheets of paper.
- Become Energy Efficient
- Turn off lights when leaving the room
- Turn off your monitor when not using it for 15 minutes or
more and shut your computer down entirely when leaving for
the day
- Did you know: If 1000 employees turned off their
computer monitor at the end of the day it would save enough
energy to light 52 homes!
- Use a power strip to turn off peripheral devices such as
lamps and phone chargers
- Use Transportation Wisely
- Use public transportation to commute and for office trips
when available
- No public transportation? Try carpooling, biking, or
walking
- Did you know: For every passenger mile traveled,
public transportation is twice as fuel efficient as private
automobiles
- Use fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles
- Teleconference or video-conference meetings instead of traveling
- Recycle
- Ask your property manager about your building’s recycling
program
- Did you know: Recycling one ton of paper saves
380 gallons of oil, or 4100 kilowatt-hours of electricity
(enough energy for an averaged sized home for 6 months)
- Properly separate recyclable materials – make sure your
coworkers do the same
- Assign a recycling monitor in your office to ensure
full and correct participation
- Reduce Office Waste
- Reuse items – such as binders, folders, envelopes, paper
clips, etc.
- Don’t buy new items unless necessary
- Reduce bottled water consumption – use tap water or water
cooler
- Did you know: According to the Earth Policy Institute,
manufacturers use 1.5 million barrels of oil each year
to produce bottles for the US bottled water market alone.
- Eliminate use of disposable plates, utensils, cups – bring
your own from home
- Purchase Green Products
- Green products help conserve natural resources, improve
worker safety and health, and can stimulate new markets and
create jobs.
- Green product attributes include features such as energy
and water efficiency, made from recycled materials, and low
or non-toxic products.
- Find what products you can buy green at "DOJ’s
Green Purchasing Site"
Read more about what you can do at the office:
Climate Change, What You Can Do at the Office
Setting Up a Home Office: Making Environmental Choices
Learn what you can do to Green Your Meetings and Conferences.
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