Green from 9 to 5: Tips for Going Green in Your Office

Our Mission

Broadway has always been more of a community than an industry, and when good ideas are born, they’re quickly shared so that everyone can benefit. The Broadway League recently began a Broadway Goes Green campaign and as a new show opening under this effort, we were more than happy to do our part practicing what we preach and preaching what we practice.

We have been working with advertisers, vendors, and theatre owners to conserve energy and reduce waste. Our cast, crew, and designers have been instrumental in creating and following better practice checklists for reducing their use of electricity, paper, and plastic, and with the help of our partners on The Broadway Green Alliance, The NRDC, and the Mayor’s office, we are continuing to refine our day to day practices wherever we can. As anyone involved with this effort will tell you, doing the right thing feels good, and it’s contagious.

Because of our unique ability to gather thousands of people in one place and then send them out smiling, we believe that outreach is a part of our responsibility and since our show takes place primarily in an office, we felt that would be a great place to focus our efforts. Imagine the difference we could collectively make if we brought some easy, common-sense practices to our lives between the hours of 9 to 5. If we then share those practices with those we work with, employ, or do business with, we could reduce our carbon footprint dramatically and set higher standards for each new member of our business community. Please join us for this journey of practice, patience, and education. Make a difference from 9 to 5 and we promise, it will spread from 5 to 9 before you know it.

From the Cast, Crew, Creative Team, and Producers of 9 to 5: The Musical, thank you for joining us in this world-changing effort.

To-Dos for Your Office/Planet

Want to learn how to make your office greener? Follow these tips and pass them on to co-workers.

Administrative Professionals

A cup of ambition. Why not start the day with an earth-friendly act. Consider brewing organic coffee with reusable filter baskets. You’ll have done something positive before you’re even fully awake.
Dress for success. It takes 700 gallons of water to make just one tee shirt. To reduce your impact, look for clothes made with organic or recycled fibers. Washing clothes in cold water with biodegradable detergent is best but if they need to be dry cleaned, seek out your local “green” dry cleaner.
The traffic’s jumping. There’s nothing greener than walking or cycling to work. Taking mass transit is also a great option. If you must drive, consider carpooling. When it’s your turn to drive, be sure to check your tire pressure. If every American kept their tires properly inflated, we could save 2.8 billion gallons of gasoline a year. Not bad for a little extra air.
The blood starts pumping. Walking just four flights of stairs twice a day would burn the average American over 8,000 calories a year, not to mention saving elevator energy.
What a way to keep it livin. How paperless can you go? Most paper products in the U.S. are only used once before being thrown away. There are greener paper options (paper with high post-consumer recycled content) but no paper is greenest of all. Keep as much communication as possible digital, including memos and schedules. When you must print, try to avoid only printing half or quarter pages at a time, and turn all unusable blank paper into memo pads. Whenever possible print on both sides and make sure it all ends up in the recycling bin.
It’s a rich man’s game. 7 out of 10 plastic water bottles end up in landfills or incinerators. Save yourself hundreds of dollars a year by avoiding plastic bottled water and using your own reusable bottle or mug. Filtered water is cheaper and every bit as clean as bottled water.
There’s a better life. Bringing lunch to work in reusable containers is likely the greenest (and healthiest) way to go. Having reusable plates and silverware at the office will also cut down on throwaway utensils and waste. If you do go out for lunch, see if there’s a place within walking distance that serves locally grown organic foods. You deserve the fresh air and healthy nourishment.
The tide is gonna change. Standby mode is the silent electricity eater. Computers, monitors, printers, chargers, and other appliances all use power in standby mode. Powering down at the end of the day and having workstations attached to a power strip can make for a one-button solution that saves you green and keeps you green.
We’re all in the same boat. Pass these tips on to co-workers and friends. If everyone who receives these follows even one of the tips and passes them on, the changes will be cumulative and enormous, not to mention money-saving. You better believe you deserve a promotion!

Office Managers

Organize carpools. Send out a memo (digitally of course) for people looking to save gas and reduce stress. If each commuter car carried just ONE more passenger ONCE a week, we would cut America’s gasoline consumption by roughly 7.7 million gallons.
They’ll never know you switched. Start buying 100% post-consumer recycled paper for your office and no one will know the difference. No one but you and mother earth.
The gift that keeps on giving. If you hand out paychecks in paper envelopes, designate a place where employees can leave them for reuse. Or better yet, ask employees to switch to direct deposit, there’s no paper waste and they get the money even faster!
Let’s leave behind bad habits. I know many people are used to super-soft toilet paper but our addiction to quilted multi-ply is contributing to global warming, loss of biodiversity, and pollution to air and water supplies. Many of the popular brands are made from virgin wood and are causing major ecological damage. That’s a heavy price to pay for something we use for less than three seconds. You might not get away with an easy switch, but bathroom breaks will be shorter!
No duds for your suds. There are great biodegradable soaps on the market now, some with aromatherapy built right in. It’ll help them forgive you for the toilet paper.
Bulk up. Buying in bulk goes a long way in reducing shipping pollution and packaging waste. It saves money too.
Now that you’ve bulked up. Reuse shipping boxes whenever possible and shredded paper makes great packaging material. See if you can get the recipient to reuse the box and paper too, or at least recycle them. You’ll have avoided a whole box’o’waste.
Holiday presents. Need something fun for the next office party, how about mugs or reusable water bottles with the company logo. You’ll help cut down on plastic bottle waste and give a boost to company pride.
Savoring that meal. For some reason, food tastes better eaten with silverware on good dishes. It also reduces the need to restock expensive throwaway plates and plastic utensils.
Is that trash filed properly? Check with your collection company to make sure your trash is being recycled. If not, make arrangements for a company to pick up your paper, metal, and plastic. Some will even pay you for your trash. By the time you have bins separating your different recyclables, you’ll be surprised by how little is actually garbage. That should be the smallest bin of all.
Mandatory retirement. When replacing appliances around the office, look to replacements with Energy Star ratings. Some new appliances use 50% less energy than their predecessors.
Never let them see you sweat. Setting thermostats to turn down during off-hours can keep everyone comfortable and save you a bundle. Some energy companies are even offering free services to let you adjust office temperatures over the internet and set timers to warm up or cool down rooms before the workday starts.
Light on your feet. All those files. All that space. All that paper! Think of how easy your next office move will be with a digital filing system. Back-up servers at separate locations offer a safe, efficient alternative to filing cabinets and paper trails. Just think what you could do with the extra floor space. A bigger desk maybe?
Spread the word. You’re the point person with vendors. Explain your greening practices and see what they can do to chip in. Printers can change their papers. Suppliers can explore alternative products. If it’s important to a customer, it’ll become important to them.
Feel good. You’re doing your part, and whether they know it yet or not, 6,790,062,216 people love you for it.

Head Honchos

Your Green fleet. When buying new company cars or service vehicles, consider electrics or hybrids. When will they pay for themselves? We like to think the day you drive them off the lot. Being an early adopter of environmentally positive technology, reducing oil dependency, and creating less pollution have their own rewards, but hybrid and electric vehicles pay for themselves in other ways too. The ability to use carpool lanes during rush hour will save time. Better fuel efficiency will save money, and government incentives and higher resale value will have you wondering why everyone hasn’t gotten on board yet.
Nothing like fit and happy employees. Offer incentives for people walking or cycling to work. If mass transit is an option, look into companies that save you and your employees money by purchasing transit tickets from pre-taxed dollars.
The fountain of savings. Most companies provide drinking water in their office, but you can save a bundle by installing filters on selected sinks or installing bottle-less water coolers. Not only are you saving on cost, but also space and you’ll be eliminating the need for plastic bottles altogether.
Smarter machines. Printers and copiers that can print double-sided will save you paper and time, and time is money to someone in your position! Networking printers and copiers also enable more people to share fewer machines.
Retirement plan. With the rate that electronics and computers are being upgraded and replaced, many of these products are ending in landfills. Many manufactures have sent back and even buyback plans, so if you can’t sell older working equipment, please make arrangements to have them collected for recycling.
Time to reinvent yourself. If you’re planning renovations or getting ready to build new office space, consider consulting green architects, designers, and construction companies. They can help you qualify for government incentives and save you megawatts by designing energy-efficient offices.
Nothing like fresh(er) air. If your HVAC system is as old and inefficient as your last boss, there’s a good chance it needs to be replaced. New systems are much more energy-efficient without using ozone depleting chemicals. The air quality will also be better so breathe in the savings.
Here’s a bright idea. While Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFLs) are more expensive upfront, they more than pay for themselves by cutting energy use by up to 75% while lasting 10 times longer than regular bulbs. Not to mention running at much lower temperatures and keeping cooling costs down. The savings add up quickly.
Food for thought. If you provide lunch at your office, please consider purchasing locally grown organic foods. The closer it is, the less transportation costs and the fresher it will be. Healthier bodies equal healthier minds.
Inter-office relationships. How about huge savings on transportation by setting up video conferencing systems. You can be face to face with anyone in the world right from the comfort of your own office.
Green class, please. When you or others from the company must travel, try to book with green hotels and airlines. Ask them what their green practices are, the more they feel people care, the more they’ll do to distinguish themselves.
We run on green. Want to make a significant statement? Tell your energy provider that you want your energy to come from renewable sources like wind and solar. You can reduce your company’s carbon footprint dramatically with one phone call.
Share the wealth. You’re on your way to becoming a greener business. Let people know what you’re doing and inspire them to do the same. More and more awakening consumers are paying attention to the companies they patron. Give them more reasons to support yours and you can both feel good about it.

Contest & Promotions

How Green is Your Office? Show us and you can win tickets to 9 to 5 on Broadway!

Does your office separate trash? Use energy-efficient lights? Print on recycled paper, or doesn’t use paper at all? If you can show us how your workplace has impressively gone greener within the last six months, your office could win 20 tickets to see 9 to 5 the Musical on Broadway.

You and your co-workers will be photographed with the Broadway cast and be featured on the official 9 to 5 website as a model of a Greening Office.

Submissions will be judged by a panel that includes members of the NRDC, The Broadway Green Committee, The Mayor’s Office, and The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future. Finalists will get a special office visit by these influential groups.

We’ll continue to choose companies every few months, so submit yours. Making your workplace green is the way to make a livin’.