Just because you are using a green hosting company—thereby reducing your carbon footprint on the environment—it’s not time to sit back and revel in knowing that your job is done. As you know, the environment needs as much help from us as we can give, and it will not take care of itself. Thankfully, there are additional small things that you can do to reduce environmental harm, which will only take little time and effort from you. And it really is the small things that add up!

One easy way to reduce your environmental footprint is to reduce the paper that you use by half. OK, maybe not half—but close to half. How, you ask? Reprint on the back of used paper before you recycle it.

After all, we only need much of what we print temporarily—and it is ultimately going to be discarded anyway. So, when you go to a meeting and get a stack of papers, remember to print on the back of those pages before recycling them. Or, when you get a sales letter in the mail, remember to print on the back of those pages before recycling them. Or, when you print something to show to a colleague, remember to print on the back of those pages before recycling them. …. You get the idea.

The logistics of printing on the backs of pages only takes a bit of planning. If you have your own dedicated printer, just keep it stocked with “recycled” paper and switch to “clean” sheets before a print job that requires it. If you share printers with colleagues, simply dedicate one printer to “clean” paper and another to “recycled” paper. Once everyone in the office gets used to the system, you’ll be amazed at how well the system works. Plus, you’ll ultimately save money, too. After all, when you use less “clean” paper, you’ll spend less money to purchase that new “clean” paper.