Business Tips for Conservation

from Kay McKeen at SCARCE

As shared at the IACCE Fall Conference

Here are a few tips to help your business conserve energy and save money at the same time.

1.   Ecofont~ Ecofont is a computer font designed with small invisible holes in the text, which uses 20% less ink than standard font.  To download Ecofont for free go to www.ecofont.co.uk

2.   Turn off office equipment ~ Turning off your office equipment at night can significantly reduce energy costs in your office or business. Turning off your computer can save you $30 a day, $42 a day for turning off your monitor, $30 for your laser printer, $18 for your fax machine, $53 for a small office copier, and $144 for a large office copier.  That is a total saving of about $317.

3. Blackel~ Blackel is a website run by Google, which aims to save energy by displaying a black background and font color for each search result.  The concept behind Blackel is that computer monitors can be made to consume less energy    by displaying darker colors. Go to www.blackel.com for your next internet search.

4.   Tank Toilets~ One in five tank toilets leak.  If your business has tank toilets in their restrooms you can purchase a toilet leak dye kit.  Remove tank cover drop one of the dye tablets into the tanks wait   several minutes if dye appears in the toilet bowl you have a leak. Fixing the leak could save 100gal. of water a day.

5.   Recycling~ Recycling just 4 lbs a week adds up to 208 lbs. a year, which can save 260 lbs. of COČ a year.

6.   Composting~ Organic waste currently represents 1/3 of the trash brought to Illinois landfills. Composting your food scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags and other organic matter can drastically reduce the amount of trash that goes to a landfill.  On January 1, 2010 Senate Bill 99 will go into effect, which allows commercial composting.  Contact your waste hauler to see about getting your compost bin.

       Contact SCARCE @ (630) 545-9710 or www.s-c-a-r-c-e.org

Thank you, Kay!