When making our lifestyle more environmentally friendly, a lot of attention is given to homes. Because people spend much of their time at work, greening an office is often just as important. Taking the time to save energy and use less resources at work will go a long way to protecting the environment.

Computer Energy Efficiency: Computers are a main fixture in every business and corporation. Business computers can waste more than one billion dollars worth of electricity a year. Cut down on energy use by turning off the computer at the end of business day. Throughout the work day, set your computer on sleep during short breaks and while you are at lunch. Employers should purchase energy-saving computers, monitors, and printers. Donate old computers to charity organizations. This will reduce the number of computers entering a landfill.

Air Quality: Make sure your ventilation system is working properly. This will result in less energy use and cleaner air.

Carpet and Paint: Purchase paint and carpet that do not contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which produce toxic chemicals

Lights: Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Buy energy star-rated light bulbs and fixtures. They use about two-thirds less energy than regular light bulbs. Install timers to shut off lights.

Paper: Try to reduce the amount of paper that you use. Whenever possible, post manuals and other policies online. Print on both sides of the paper and use the other side of old documents for faxes and scribble paper. When possible, print in black. Make it a policy to only purchase recycled paper. There are a variety of earth friendly paper products available which are made from either bamboo, hemp, organic, or cotton materials. Recycle ink cartridges and toner and only buy remanufactured products.

Recycle: Place recycling containers throughout the office. This will drastically cut down on the amount of paper and plastics going into landfills.

Use Green Products: There are a number of eco-friendly office products available. A few items include envelopes and papers, pens, toilet paper, paper towels, refillable pens and markers, biodegradable soaps, and biodegradable cleaners.

Reusable Kitchenware: Employers can make it a policy that only reusable dishes, silverware, and glasses are allowed. Switch to filtered water to reduce the use of bottled water.

Green Office Furniture: Purchase environmentally friendly desks, chairs, cabinets, and other furniture. Eco-friendly manufacturers are now providing a host of green office furniture. This type of furniture is made from sustainable harvested wood. For instance, furniture made from bamboo helps sustain forests because bamboo grows quickly. They are also made from recycled materials. There are industries that use recycled material in the manufacturing of steel, recycled soda bottles in chairs, as well as upholstery fabrics made from recycled soda bottles.

Traditional manufacturing processes create emissions of volatile organic compounds from glues, stains, and finishes. Eco-friendly manufacturing does not create toxic emissions. Refurbished furniture is becoming a very popular choice because they significantly reduce the amount of office furniture going into landfills Eco-friendly constructed office furniture are made with materials that do not give off toxins or strong odors. A few of these eco friendly materials include glues, paints, and foams.

We are now living in a time where both indoor and outdoor pollutants are affecting every part of our lives. Because we spend so much time at the office, toxins and chemicals in the air can greatly increase the risk of such health conditions as cancer, asthma, allergies, and respiratory illnesses. Chemicals may also end up in the environment where they contaminate groundwater and soil and harm plant and animal life. Greening the office is a great way to improve your health and protect the environment. Businesses will have happier and more productive employees.

Each moment on your journey, you are presented with an opportunity to react differently when yet another someone or something in your life rubs you the wrong way, or you may find yourself wanting to walk away from a circumstance, but are not sure if that is the right thing to do. However, you may find yourself stuck in a rut that seems impossible from which to extricate yourself. You may even make the same choices over and over again because you do not know how to choose otherwise.

Rather than moving you forward, your present path may take you in a seemingly never-ending circle where your actions and choices lead you, not only, nowhere, but to where you’ve been before. It is during these repetitious moments that awareness becomes the first step to change.

Awareness is the moment when you are able to recognize what you are doing at the deepest level. You observe yourself, noticing your actions, reactions and choices in real time. Awareness is the first step to change because you can not make a change unless you are aware of what needs to be changed.

You can then understand why you are doing what you are doing. Afterward, it becomes difficult not to change because you are no longer in a fog about what you are doing. You will, also, realize that as much as you are the root source behind the causes for your behaviors, you are also the originator for any changes that you need to make.

There is infinite freedom in your awareness. Rather than thinking that you are stuck in a repetitive cycle with no escape, you will begin to see how you play a role in creating your life. Whether you are aware of them or not, your behaviors and choices are yours to make. Your past and present no longer have to dictate your future when you choose to be aware in real time. You are then free to move beyond your old limits, make new choices, and take new actions. With awareness, you take a new path that moves you forward while paving the way for new experiences and new ways of being. It is through awareness that you can continue to consciously evolve.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, “101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life.” Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one’s daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_M._Neddermeyer,_PhD

Catherine Franz, a Business Coach, specializes in writing, marketing and product development.  Newsletters and  additional articles:  http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Catherine_Franz

By Catherine Franz

So how to get back to your purpose and the roots of setting goals…

You need to set time aside regularly for personal reflection. This is the single biggest tip I can offer and probably the most neglected. I find the weekends to be my best time, but use whatever works best for you.

Initially, your life purpose may seem to be a little illusive, especially if you’ve been through hardships. They can really sabotage your progress.

So I recommend that you get up very early, before anyone else in the household once a week and evaluate your wants and needs.

It helps to give yourself a flexible time line in which to accomplish your specific goals, and as I go into more detail in later articles, you will learn my method for goal setting.

But for now, it’s important to wrap your mind around the big picture. Your life purpose is the thing that gives you energy and drives you. For me it is teaching, training, adding value to others.

If you can identify what gives you energy and makes you feel satisfied and fulfilled, you’re on the right path to finding your life purpose. So spend an hour this week and write down everything that comes to mind that you’ve ever done that gave you a deep sense of satisfaction.

You might be surprised. It might be a real eye opener to you…

Don’t let this just be a thought…really follow through. It’s simple but it works.

Do you have trouble sensing what your life purpose is? It’s not as hard to find as you might predict. For more great information check out http://lizharmon.com

By Liz Harmon

The fact that he asked the question indicated to me that he was assuming that we are born into this world with a pre-written or pre-destined purpose. So all we have to do to be completely happy with our lives is to discover that purpose and pursue it.

In actual fact, when I was younger, I had the same belief. Later, I found out that this is quite a common belief among those searching for a purpose in life. A few years after I graduated as a doctor, I was in a relationship that eventually failed. That failure led to a period of depression, low self-esteem, questions about the purpose of existence and eventually about my purpose in life. I took a month of leave from work to try to cope with that sense of loss and hopelessness. I traveled to Tibet and even consulted one of their monks who was reputed to have some divinity skills. Despite all that, I still ended up without knowing my definite purpose in life when I returned home. I went back to work resigned to the fact that I have failed to discover my true purpose in life.

Years later, through my own spiritual practice, lots of reading and meditation, it dawned on me one fine day that there is no pre-destined life purpose. Our purpose in life is what we choose it to be. Some people find it easy to “discover” their life purpose because they recognize that they have certain skills and interests in a specific area and they choose to pursue it to the fullest. That choice becomes their life purpose. The majority of us do not have a clear skill or areas of interest, so it would seem as though we cannot recognize our life purpose. The truth is that your life purpose is what you choose it to be. You can choose to become the best in what you are presently doing, and that can become your life purpose. Or you can choose to devote your time and effort to alleviating sufferings in an under-developed country, and that becomes your life purpose. Your life purpose can be altruistic or it can be totally self-centered.

What I do notice is that a life purpose that includes happiness and achievements not just for yourself but also others tend to be more satisfying in the end. Recent scientific studies have also shown that altruism is essential for a happy, contented and healthy life. Too much self-centered goals to the exclusion of others is unhealthy physically as well as emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Recently, someone introduced Gay Hendricks’ Five Wishes book to me, in an audio format. As I listened to it, I was struck by his simple, yet elegant, method of discovering one’s life purpose. The book is his excellent sharing of how he discovered his life purpose, simply by asking and answering a simple question. If you are still searching for your life purpose, I strongly recommend that you read or listen to this book. It will open your eyes to new possibilities.