Green Office Week is traditionally celebrated in Britain every second week in May, but many Corning Incorporated employees around the world practice “working green” every day, evidenced by the company’s recent 2017 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award win.

Employees from Corning’s Global Energy Management and Corporate Environmental Control groups offer tips to help employees from any company work a little greener during Green Office Week, May 8-13, 2017: 

1) Focus on Energy, Monday: Turn off or unplug electronics. Even if your screen goes black, electronics are still using power. Don’t forget to switch off your monitors, and when possible, completely unplug computer systems. As a reminder, write yourself a note on a scrap of recycled paper and leave it somewhere you’ll see it before leaving for the day. Check with a supervisor or manager before unplugging shared devices like printers or fax machines (long breaks or holidays might work best for this option).

2) Focus on Transportation, Tuesday: Walk, bike, or carpool to work. The average person commutes 25.4 minutes one way to work each day. Choosing an alternative transportation method even just one day could save about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere.   

3) Focus on Waste, Wednesday: Recycle, recycle, recycle. Many offices and corporations have recycling systems, but if yours doesn’t, suggest starting one. Recycling can save a company money, and helps the environment. If recycling from the office isn’t a possibility, recycle your items from home or drop them off at a recycling facility on your way from work. Corning recycles at its locations through its Waste Reduction Initiative, which even recycles material from our manufacturing processes, such as cable.

4) Focus on Purchasing, Thursday: Research environmentally-friendly companies for your business needs. You’ll not only feel good about helping the environment, but it’s something your consumers in turn will most likely appreciate. Being linked with companies focused on sustainability and corporate responsibility can help your company stay out of potential environmental issues, too. 

5) Focus on Innovation, Friday: If you have the power to affect process change, do it! Whether you’re on the floor of a manufacturing plant, working in an office, washing dishes at a restaurant, or ringing out customers at a store, there are greener options to doing or making most things. Research, and connect with similarly sized and focused companies. Changing even a long-standing process can feel cumbersome, but can pay off both for the environment and your bottom line in the long run.

Learn more about Corning’s company-wide sustainability initiative here.