Everyday life Eco-gestures

… simple steps to reduce your footprint at work

Do you want to reduce your environmental footprint at work, but don’t know where to start? Here are some simple ways to save money and the environment…

Reduce your consumption: printers and photocopies

  • limit printing
  • print in black and white and on both sides, and if possible 4 pages per sheet
  • use a photocopier instead of a printer for large quantities of copies
  • use single-sided printed pages for notes
  • configure printers with a draft tray, and use draft pages for proofreading and checking the layout of documents
  • print in ‘low quality’ mode
  • find out about specialised applications/plug-ins that help you save on printing costs (e.g. Print Friendly, Clever Print…)
  • choose narrow margins
  • use fonts designed to reduce the amount of ink (e.g. Arial, Calibri, Century Gothic, Garamond, Times New Roman)
  • if a document is to be read by several people, circulate a single copy
  • a photocopier consumes 80% of its energy in standby mode, so put it on standby – or better still, turn it off – as often as possible

Reduce your consumption: disposable dishes

  • Avoid plastic cups for coffee machines and water fountains; use personal containers (e.g. cups, flasks) instead
  • limit the use of plastic cutlery on meal trays
  • favour compostable purchases

Reduce your consumption: electricity

  • use LED / low-energy light bulbs
  • favour daylight
  • include consumption in your choice criteria when purchasing equipment
  • deactivate GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, if not necessary
  • set appliances to “energy saving” mode
  • systematically switch off equipment that consumes electricity at night, at weekends and during holidays, e.g. screens, lights, equipment on a multi-socket switch, remote control for several sockets
  • reduce the power consumption of your screen: lower its brightness, turn it off whenever possible, automate the quick sleep function, choose an “energy-saving” screen saver
  • prefer a laptop to a desktop computer
  • limit the viewing of videos/TV on the internet; choose TNT instead of ADSL
  • turn off the internet box as often as possible
  • prefer wifi to 4G, prefer wired to wifi (wifi consumes more than cable)

Reduce your consumption: heating/air conditioning

  • close shutters, blinds and curtains at night
  • limit heating
  • set the thermostat to 19° during the day and 15° at night, at weekends and during holidays
  • keep radiators clear
  • isolate spaces that are not used often
  • limit air conditioning
  • identify and use collective work rooms with air conditioning
  • prefer teleworking in the summer period
  • cool down in the morning, ventilate
  • close solar protection (shutters/curtains) and windows
  • set the temperature as low as possible at 26°C (maximum difference of 4°C from outside)
  • turn off the air conditioning when you leave

Reduce your consumption: water

  • report water leaks (sinks, toilet flushes, etc.) to the logistics department
  • prefer city water to bottled mineral water (use fountains, water carafes in meetings, etc.)

Reduce your consumption: waste

  • participate in selective sorting
  • reuse paper for notes
  • identify an “available packaging” area
  • recycle end-of-life IT equipment

Reduce your consumption: transport

Check your travel’s carbon footprint thanks to the Labo1.5 simulator : https://apps.labos1point5.org/travels-simulator

  • give preference to videoconferencing
  • give preference to carpooling
  • use the train for domestic destinations (e.g. Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Tarbes)

Make responsible purchases

Check your purchase’s carbon footprint thanks to the Labo1.5 simulator : https://apps.labos1point5.org/purchases-simulator

  • reduce the number of equipment replacements
  • choose local and eco-responsible suppliers
  • give preference to eco-labelled products (Energy Star, EcoLabel, etc.)
  • buy recycled / reconditioned and recyclable products
  • give preference to multifunctional appliances
  • repair rather than replace in case of breakdown
  • contribute to the laboratory’s internal second-hand market: inventory the equipment, update its status (active, available, waste, to be repaired, etc.), distribute the list of available equipment

Control the impact of your digital life: storage

  • promote the dematerialisation of administrative processes: don’t print administrative documents, facilitate electronic signatures
  • consider the need for permanent storage
  • choose a community space, e.g. mycore (CNRS), owncloud (IRAP cloud)
  • share an ephemeral digital space for collaborative publishing, e.g. Core (CNRS), Box (IN2P3), Office365 (Universities)
  • think about the lifespan of a document in this space: archive important documents, and delete obsolete ones

Control the impact of your digital life: emails

  • limit the number of emails sent: target the recipients, avoid sending a reply to everyone
  • write emails in text format
  • avoid printing emails
  • use file transfer sites for large attachements, e.g. FileZ (IRAP)
  • clean up regularly: download important documents and delete them from the mailbox, regularly empty the recycle bin, drafts, spam
  • delete spam immediately and install an anti-spam software
  • reduce the number of attachments sent: compress them and delete them in a reply
  • replace attachments with a hyperlink/URL
  • reduce email signatures to the strict minimum
  • avoid email signatures with logos and use a text signature instead
  • manage your mailing lists regularly
  • unsubscribe from newsletters that you no longer read
  • choose free and economical tools, e.g. consult https://degooglisons-internet.org/fr/

Control the impact of your digital life: the browser

  • choose a more energy-efficient browser
  • watch less video and less HD
  • listen to music without the clip
  • limit flash animations
  • reduce the use of streaming
  • keep it short: type in the URL of a site directly, use the history, create favourites
  • search smart: target the demand and choose the right keywords

Control the impact of your digital life: cleaning up

  • regularly empty the “downloads” folder
  • delete duplicates – tools exist to help you
  • delete obsolete documents
  • delete applications that are no longer in use
  • sort out stored data
  • empty caches

Control the impact of your digital life: try a digital detox

  • disconnect at least once a week
  • limit your activities on social networks

Control the impact of your digital life: software development

Some further sources…

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