5 Inexpensive Ways to Create a Green Home Office

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Hello Friends!

I have been researching ways to streamline my home office area and make it as environmentally friendly as possible. Here are 5 easy steps I took to make this happen:

1. Purchased Used Equipment & Furniture: I donated or recycled my old PCs and switched to an entirely Mac platform. The Macbook I purchased was pre-owned so I paid about half of what I would if buying it new. I run both Windows and Mac OS X on it so I get the best of both worlds for a fraction of the cost. I also purchased a used table and chair from a local thrift store saving me money and the lives of a few trees. While I did save a ton of money what is important is I got rid of an outdated machine in a responsible way that is safe for the environment and gave new life to an old desk.
2. Use Only Recycled Printer Paper: According to Bay Area Recycling.org for every 20 cases of recycled paper you buy you save 17 trees, 390 gallons of oil, 7,000 gallons of water and 4,100 kWh of energy. Enough said!
3. Electronic Invoicing  for Clients: Instead of sending out paper invoices each month I opt for electronic invoicing. This can be done through software products such as Peachtree Accounting or online  via payment processing sites like PayPal or Google Checkout. I use Intuit Business Manager which is a free web-based invoicing solution. Furthermore, I also encourage clients and friends to be more responsible by printing only when necessary.
4. Use Energy Star Products: My Macbook, printer, monitor and every other electronic product I use is Energy Star certified. These products increase energy efficiency and use less toxic materials in their manufacturing.
5. Purchase Eco-friendly Office Supplies: From pencils made from post consumer materials to a stapleless stapler, all of my office supplies environmentally safe and just as durable and useful as their non-environmentally friendly counterparts.

Do you have any suggestions for a green home office? Feel free to share them!

Green Job Expo to be Held in Los Angeles

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Greetings Friends!

If you are in the LA area and looking for green industry jobs then the Go Green Expo is where you need to be! It takes places January 22nd through the 24th 2010 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The expo will feature more than 300 companies from various industries including:

• Business and Electronics
• Health, Beauty & Fashion
• Energy, Conservation & Recycling

Participants can interview with companies such as Best Buy, Coca Cola Enterprises, California Solar Innovations and ITT Systems. For 50% off tickets use code: GREENJOBS and pay only $5!

A Few Tips for Attending the Expo

• Dress to Impress – Be sure to dress professionally when attending any expo, interview or job fair. Wear contemporary professional attire that is clean, pressed and reflects that you mean business.
• Brings Lots of Resumes (This is actually a requirement for the Expo’s career fair) – Bring a minimum of 15 resumes as you will likely interview on the spot with the companies attending the expo. Update all your contact information to ensure employers can contact you. Also, be sure your employment information is current.
• Smile! – A smile goes a long way toward your efforts to empress potential employers by showing you are confident and cheerful.

About Go Green Expo:
One of the nation’s most invigorating & diverse eco-friendly events, Go Green Expo will be at the Los Angeles Convention Center from January 22nd to 24th, 2010. Sponsored by CBS Television, The Los Angeles Business Journal, Natural Health Magazine, the Daily News, LA Weekly, Natural Home, Spirituality & Health Magazine, Mother Earth News, Kiwi Magazine, Green Lifestyles Magazine, Whole Life Times, The Sierra Club and over 25 other organizations. Go Green Expo is sure to have outstanding exposure and reach in its efforts to educate and enlighten business owners & consumers on the latest eco-friendly brands.

Hundreds of exhibits will encompass a wide variety of green products & services ranging from solar panels, hybrid & electric cars, organic personal care products, eco-pet supplies, greener gadgets, eco-fashion, and home and building supplies that will help us live a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle.

Eco-Celebrity speakers, authors & thought leaders such as Ed Begley Jr., Mariel Hemingway, Paul Pelosi Jr., John Picard & Eric Corey Freed will lead informative discussions! Don’t miss Los Angeles’ ultimate eco-extravaganza! For more details or to register please visit http://www.GoGreenExpo.com and let them know you heard about the event from Dharmapreneur!

Green Jobs May See Growth in 2010

Image by the Bergman Group/Darren Wamboldt

Stephen Hinton, managing director at Hinton Human Capital, recently made a post containing the 27 areas of potential job growth in the green economy. Some of these include:

• Architecture
• Environmental Engineering
• Landscape Architecture

The post was very informative and gave some very interesting examples of green jobs that I did not know existed like environmental information systems and resource efficiency managers. I’m curious to see what other green jobs will sprout as the year moves forward.

Do you know of any interesting green jobs on the rise? Are you employed as a green professional? Sound off below with your take on the green job industry.

Ecolism & Its Importance to the Future of Business

Our world is an endless stream of interconnectedness. There is no person, place or thing that is not linked, in however mundane a way, to everyone, everywhere and everything else. Traditional strategies in business generally do not possess a sustainability philosophy instead preferring the pursuit of large profit margins and unnecessary expansion. In the aftermath of the economy’s downturn, shouldn’t we entertain other methodologies that not only allow businesses to make a profit but also encourage a better relationship with our planet and its occupants? There is an alternative to today’s extreme linear practices. It is Ecolism.

Defining Ecolism

The best definition of Ecolism comes from Lee Whitfield over at the Ecolism.org blog; it has been altered slightly for clarity:

Ecolism is political system in which the cyclical nature of existence is embraced and rationalized into a socio-economic structure. All processes and activities are based on renewable and sustainable practices as opposed to those based on continual expansion.

According to this definition Ecolism can be see as a replacement for or complimentary component to  conventional capitalistic practices with a shift in focus from accumulating excessive profits to acquiring wealth with the intent to better all of humanity.

Converting to a complete or complimentary acceptance of Ecolists principles would have some profound effects. One such outcome would be an elevated level of ethical and moral accountability. Another may be an increased awareness of the future global consequences of one’s business activities.

If ecolism were to flourish who would develop and implement such a dynamic system?

Enter the Spiritual Entrepreneur

In years past the accepted form of entrepreneurialism consisted of wheeling and dealing by any means necessary to secure a deal and turn a profit. If people, communities, nations or the planet fall in harm’s way it is not anything a well paid PR person or an immense monetary settlement could not handle. As Greg Mullera over at Grape Thinking expressed it: “Capitalism needs a major upgrade … I believe it to be Ecolism”.

If Ecolism is the way then spiritual entrepreneurs are its messengers. They are not out to make money for the sake of acquiring power or status. They are not concerned with obsessive materialism. A spiritual entrepreneur’s focus rests on how his or her enterprise benefits mankind with as little damage to the environmental possible. Their philosophy and business practices reflect a well honed inner knowledge of the interconnectedness of things and they hold everyone in the organization accountable for their ethical and moral contributions to relationship building with customers, fellow employees and the environment.

Moving Forward to an Ecolist Business Model

Fortunately, there are plenty of businesses that follow and ecolist type business model or have begun exploring and implementing sustainability protocols in their companies. President Obama, favoring the efficiency and sensibility of sustainability has set sustainability goals for federal agencies to complete by 2020. No doubt that with the world looking for a better way to do business Ecolism will attract increased study in the months and years ahead.

Is Ecolism the solution to our country’s economic and social woes? It surely cannot hurt to give it a try.

To Your Limitless Success

Michael Stagg AKA The Dharmapreneur