Are you the only person in your office that cares about the environment; the lone green guardian trying to turn your office eco? Don’t get disheartened – you can still make a big difference alone. And in time, your colleagues just might come round to your way of thinking.

How do I know? Experience. Having once come from an industry where the CEO didn’t believe in climate change and nothing (at all) was recycled – I couldn’t just sit and watch it any longer. So, yes, I was that person who collected cans and bottles, put them in my car and took them to the recycling facility. I got all paper from the bins to the recycling centre. I tried to point out the hibernate button on laptops.

And so on this went. Yes, you might annoy people. But believe me, when they start seeing just how full the bags of bottles and cans are, they realise just how much waste they’re creating and change their habits.

The accounts department will thank you too. After all, you’re encouraging people to turn stuff off – that means cutting their energy bill. They’re using less paper too, so not so much has to be bought in.

Little by little you can transform your office from an environmental train wreck into an eco paradise (or at least a mini recycling centre). So if you are the only one in the office who cares, don’t give up. You’ll win in the end and the environment (and accountant) will thank you for it.

To help you get started, here’s ten top tips to turning your office green.

For a long time now we have been fans of philosophy football. ( www.philosophyfootball.com) Well our friends at Philosophy football have just launched a range of shirts remembering the forgotten airfields of the Battle of Britain . One of these is very close to our heart. Yasmin, co-founder and Business Development Director was born and raised on the site of Croydon Airfield. Before the war Croydon was made famous by Bert Hinkler, who made the first flight from Croydon to Darwin, Australia in 1928; Amy Johnson who left Croydon for her flight to Australia and Charles Lindbergh who flew into Croydon in 1927 shortly after completing the first solo trans-Atlantic flight. When war broke out Croydon became home to 111, 501,401,85,72,111, 605, 607 and 147 Squadrons all of whom played a significant part in the victory of the Battle of Britain.

Many of the men that died, some little older than teenagers secured us the privilege to live,work and marry in one of the most exciting diverse parts of the world. As a boy I was told that the most important thing I could do as a man was to vote because women threw themselves under horses and men died in burning planes to give us that right. To those men and women, words cannot convey our gratitude so we wear the shirt with pride. We stand as a nation against facism, then and now, respectful of our past, to honour our future and live happily in the present.

August bank holiday is finally here. You’ve got a long weekend to do whatever you want – a city break, BBQ party, trip to the country or simply a weekend in front of the telly. However you choose to spend this bank holiday, here’s 5 quick tips to making it a green one.

Cut the wings

So, you’ve got 3 days to yourself. Of course, you want to go somewhere – but do you really need to fly there? With a wealth of fantastic places to see and things to do here in the UK and Europe, who needs wings to get them where they’re going? Seek out that place you’ve never discovered before and explore it by foot, bike or train!

No-frills

Ok, there are some places you might not be able to get to in the time-frame. You’ve got your heart set on a place and this is your chance to see it. How about no-frills flying? According to sources, developments like higher seat numbers, new planes and direct flights can create just 35% of carbon emissions compared to the alternatives.

Grow your green fingers

Looking for a fun activity to enjoy with family, friends or kids? How about you get horticultural this Bank Holiday and plant some trees. Whether it’s in your garden or an approved public area, it’s a great way to make a difference on your time off and will act as a constant reminder. Find some great tips here.

Get exploring

You could spend the holiday comfy on the sofa, relaxing. This is likely to mean unless you’re reading, you’ll be using more home energy than usual. Cut the power and explore your area for some great out-of-doors activities. After all, the next Bank Holiday isn’t until Christmas – you can stay at home any time.

Green BBQ

It’s the perfect time for a BBQ (weather-withstanding). But how do you make sure it’s green as can be? First, make sure you use FSC certified charcoal from local sustainable sources. In addition, try using as much local produce and meat as possible to keep the footprint down. Perhaps some British ale or cider too, instead of the imported lagers.

And remember, whatever you do, make sure you have a fantastic August Bank Holiday, keep it green and switch off the lights before you leave the office.

We’ve got five pairs of tickets to give away to see this year’s top environmental feature No Impact Man from thefantastic social enterprise Dogwoof on 7^th September at screenings around the country.

This eco-flick follows a year in the life of Colin Beavan – a man who’s decided that he’ll eliminate his impact on the environment for 365 days. That means going veggie, buying local, taking the stairs and cutting out electricity. To make things that little bit harder, he lives in Manhattan, a place renowned for its conspicuous consumption.

Along the journey, the film explores the impact it has upon Colin and his family, from the best times to the worst and everything in-between as they come to terms with this dramatic lifestyle change. Want to know more about why you should check out this film? See the trailer and more here.

For your chance to win tickets to see this film, simply tell us or tweet us one of your favourite ways to reduce your office’s environmental impact – from a solar powered laptop to cycling to work.

At The Green Desk, we love UK manufacturers. We use them, we seek them out and we champion them unashamedly. Not only does it reduce carbon footprints, but they’re fantastic and it supports our local economies. Go anywhere and you’ll find people proud to buy their national goods. Sadly, the same passion doesn’t seem to exist in Britain.

So let’s just take a moment to look at what our technological thinkers and makers have come up with over the years. Let’s see, there’s…

• The light bulb (and light switch)
• Spinning Jenny
• Typewriter
• Flushing toilet
• Industrial Revolution
• Penicillin
• A lot more (including the World’s No.1 Vodka)

And then it gets green…

• The first wind turbine for energy production (courtesy of Prof James Blyth)
• Solar Powered Water Pump
• Leader in carbon capture technology
• A baby rocker powered by exercise bike (2009 top invention)
• BioD – the leading eco-friendly cleaning products
• Masonry that actually absorbs carbon
• Perhaps in the future, Sir Frederick Handley Page’s ‘bat wing plane’

On top of that, we’ve seen countless UK manufactures in green stationery, from paper to biodegradable products and eco friendly ink cartridges.

Nation of Ecovation

As you can see, the UK has a phenomenal history in innovation; our engineers, designers, inventors and manufacturers have led technological revolution for countless years. And with the arrival of the green boom, nothing’s changed. We still punch well above our weight and are leading the world in green innovation,  so why are our green manufacturers are disappearing?

Those manufacturers we’d worked with for years, those of paper, cartridges and more, they’re all disappearing. Some have to shut down and relocate overseas while other have gone entirely – taking the money and jobs with them.

Why have they closed? Perhaps before it might have been a lack of interest, but with virtually every company running a detailed CSR and environmental policy, that’s no longer the case. Maybe it’s because we don’t have the skills? I’m sure the above puts that possibility out of the question. There are countless designers and manufacturers out there itching to make a difference. Of course it might be funding or competition or any number of things but one of the main reasons is pride.

People across the world from Italy, France, Germany, Japan, India, the US, China are proud of their industrial heritage. They search out products made by their own country as a guarantee of good value, well made products.  One simple measure is to look at the cars driven in these countries.  How many Citroens or Renaults are driven around Paris? How many Beemers in Bonn, Fiat’s in Florence, or Toyota’s in Tokyo? But, in Britain, we think of our own manufacturing as just a bit rubbish – something better done elsewhere while we aspire to working in an office or doing ‘something with computers’.

The truth is that we cannot build a sustainable economy by cutting each other’s hair.  As Sir Gulam Noon pointed out some time ago, the idea that Britain will be able to build an economy on high technology is a fallacy cut down by the sheer numbers of computing science graduates coming out of India. Instead we need a competitive manufacturing base and we need it in industries of the future.  The irony is that we are good at developing these industries and we are good at manufacturing, but we could take learn something from our neighbours and value and support our manufacturing industries, our researchers and our designers.

Partly because we don’t value our manufacturers and more to the point don’t search out and buy British our entrepreneurs and business owners struggle with funding, support and ultimately sales.  So without the demand for green UK manufacture, it’s difficult for people to get the capital to make their ideas a reality.

Someone can have the greatest idea in the world, but if it’s not got the ability to get off the ground it remains exactly that, an idea. In the meantime the environment is getting worse, more jobs are lost and more work is outsourced overseas. It’s not a matter of shunning imported goods, it’s a case of supporting the talent and skilled innovators we have in the UK to make it a leading nation in green technology.

Of course, there is a level of funding, which has recently taken a huge knock with millions set to be cut across the board of green initiatives. The projects that are funded to go green and the homes that are given grants must buy from somewhere. But with so many UK manufacturers disappearing, such as UK wind power giant Vestas, they’ll have to buy elsewhere.

So let’s fire up the passion for UK made innovation – especially when it comes to green – to build on this talent and once again be proud to use our own products, just as virtually every other nation is to use theirs.

From the independent manufacturer to the major developers, everyone needs support to make this change. With backing for the makers, the trust can build within the consumers. To gain this level of support and get the government to sit up and take notice of our manufacturers, we’ve teamed up with the UK’s leader in PR, marketing and design to construct a campaign – Green Britannia – that champions the UK’s green manufacturers and service providers with the aim of developing a sustainable environment, economy and source of jobs.

If you are a manufacturer of green goods, inventor, service provider or other, let us know how you feel more support can be given to make the UK a leader in green thinking.

Many people have heard the phrase “If everyone in UK offices saved just one staple a day, we’d save 72 tonnes of metal a year” courtesy of Wasteonline. It’s an alarming statistic. And at Three Green Desk we’ve said for years that everything, even a single staple has a carbon footprint. But do we just see statistics like this and think it’s interesting, or do we see them an act?

Here’s a little story – it’s about a staple. It wasn’t always a staple. Born into a large family of steel, it had a world of opportunities ahead of it. It could have been part of a bridge, providing service to millions of people; perhaps part of a boat bringing the world together or even, in a more creative lifetime, have been a beautiful ornament.

This is where many in his family went. Sadly, for this small sample of steel, he was torn away and turned into a staple. At first he was delighted at the practical service he’d offer. But then he realised his limitations.

After being packed in a box alongside dozens of others like him, he was forced into a stapler to await his finest, and last, moment. Then it happened, he was swiftly holding together a range of documents., making the user very happy.

But here he was to stay until eventually the user no longer needed these documents. But unlike many in his family, he was deemed too small to bother recycling. Instead he just went to the bin and spent the rest of his days living in a hole somewhere around the UK.

This staple’s not alone. In fact, there are millions just like him, who, after their single use, are cast into landfill around the country. One staple might seem small; insignificant. But put them all together and that’s a lot of steel – a lot of resources – going to waste.

So let the little staple lead a more productive, more sustainable life and work away from staples. After all, that’s exactly why the stapleless stapler was made – providing all the functionality of the average stapler, without wasting a single resource.

With the news that milk and meat from clones cows has covertly entered the UK food supply comes the latest example of just how crucial it is to know the source of our products.

It’s not the fault of the consumer, nor the animal – but they’re the ones that suffer. The consumer gets a product they were unaware of and when they hear of it, it’s already too late. And for the animal, research shows cloned animals are born with a range of health defects.

It highlights just how important it is for clear information about where the things we buy come from. The food industry is already leading this trend with remarkable power and has done great things for the British food supply. Should we not, therefore, be looking just as carefully at where everything else we purchase and use is from, what it’s made of and how it’s made?

After all, just like we are seeing the some meat may conceal a darker past, so do many of the things we use every day – but it’s rarely reported except in various cases of child labour and the current (but incredibly important) concentration on palm oil.

This still leaves a mass of consumable not being looked at with such rigour. The pens you use, the chairs you’re sitting on. Yes, it might be FSC wood, but who put it together? How was it done? Without knowing this, we don’t know if we’re unwittingly supporting un-environmental or unethical practice.

Perhaps the way forward would be to start being proud of our British products, just like we are of our food and our ales. There’s an abundance of innovative engineers, designers, builders and more waiting to make a change for the better. If we use them, champion them, we can perhaps work towards a greener and better nation, whilst supporting our economy and home-grown businesses.

In addition, we can keep a careful eye on the full supply chain and know exactly how our products were made and that they were done the right way: helping us avoid incidents like the cloned beef from happening elsewhere.

It’s easy to dismiss subjects we don’t agree with. As with anything, people can choose to listen to or ignore issues as and when they please – until they’re faced with the consequences. I’m sure those sailors who thought “The Earth’s flat? Rubbish! I’ll show you”, would have taken a very different view point had their vessel taken a short, swift dive off the edge of the earth. However, luckily for them, they were correct.

But when it comes to climate change, can we really afford to keep turning our backs on it? Whilst it’s obvious that big businesses and corporations can make a significant impact by changing the way they work, it’s the individual effort that will make the true impact.

If we dispose of the “If he’s not doing it, I’m not” attitude, a significant amount of change could happen pretty quickly. Even if we just alter a single thing we do. Not convinced? Here’s some amazing facts, beautifully and simply laid out by The Urban Times. Take a look!

It’s no secret – there’s a paper shortage in the UK. Even JK Rowling noticed it back in 2006. Why has thishappened? Where to start: paper mills closing all around the nation; plummeting volumes of raw materials; Finnish port strikes and tonnes simply going in the bin

On top of this, paper consumption was projected to increase by 50% in 2010 compared to demand in 2000. This is a reaction to the increased need of paper in Asia and South America.

Addiction to paper

Virtually everyone is using one kind of paper or another. For some businesses, it’s a necessity; for others, an addiction. Either way, we’re going through it fast, whether it’s recycled or virgin pulp.

This has put a tremendous strain on the industry. It can’t be made fast enough and the quantities required can’t be delivered as needed. This has led to stationers not getting the deliveries they want and having to limit the supply to their customers. In addition, it has meant the few manufacturers and distributers there are have leverage.

Prices have, therefore, gone up. This is the case whether it’s the cheapest virgin paper or premium recycled alternatives. And it’s the cheap supplies that are first to go. So, with virtually every businesses, office and household wanting it, how will it be affordable?

The answer is, in many cases, the costs will be hidden – allowing consumers to keep up their paper habit. They’ll be hidden by increasing prices elsewhere, leading to a false economy.

However, here at The Green Desk we believe in honesty and openness and working in a way that’s fair to everyone. That’s why we haven’t hidden these increments in paper costs. However, as all our other highly green, UK made products remain cost-effective; these increased paper costs can easily be balanced out.

But, simply, the best way to help during this UK –and in fact global – paper shortage is to use less. Kicking the habit can be as easy as not printing off emails and minimising waste by not printing until it’s certain there are no mistakes.

And remember: recycle and used recycled! Recycled paper can only remain if the cycle is closed. That means waste must be recycled so manufactures have materials to use and then they must be bought to create a demand – promoting a cradle to cradle process.

Going green is simple, cost-effective and good for everyone. Don’t’ panic, it doesn’t all have to happen at once. Trychanging one thing a day and you’ll see just how rapidly your office changes – for the better.

How about starting with PVC? It’s widely used due to its versatility. This means it’s hiding in all sorts of things like your ring binders, lever arch files, plastic cutlery, phones, keyboards and more. More and more big manufacturers are turning their backs on it and you can too.

Why say bye to PVC?

The danger of PVC is widely recorded and campaigned. Throughout its life cycle, PVC, or Polyvinyl chloride, emits a range of toxins damaging to the environment and your health, including dioxins.

So, do you really want this in your office? Think of it this way: you’ve got an allergy to bee stings and two bees have just flown in through the window. You want to get rid of them as soon as possible, don’t you? It’s unlikely you’ll encourage more bees in. Then why keep bringing more and more PVC into your office, working alongside it ay in, day out. It’s not good for anyone.

There’s plenty of viable alternatives, from our PVC free files to anything your office could need. Don’t give in to temptation, just remember – PVC is not for me.

Change that today and the possibilities to improving your office the next day are endless. See how we can bring about dramatic change to your environmental impact through these simple changes.