Promote biking to work. Granted, this may not be possible for everyone, and it depends on the location of your company. But, if you’re located in an urban setting, it could be quite feasible for workers living nearby.

Your business can help by providing a safe place for employees to store their bikes during the workday. That could be a bike rack in the front of the building or possibly an indoor space. Also, set aside an area where employees can freshen up and even shower after biking to work. In the summer, they’ll appreciate this (and so will their co-workers).

Offer incentives to employees who bike to work – a free bike helmet or a gift card for biking a certain number of miles.

Promote public transportation. Again, this depends on your location and the availability of subways, buses or trains. If those are accessible to your employees, encourage their use by making schedules and maps readily available. You may also offer to reimburse employees for a portion of the public transportation costs as an incentive.

If public transportation isn’t available to everyone, encourage employees to carpool – especially great for employees who live in the suburbs and drive into downtown for work.

It doesn’t take much effort for your business, but the impact is large. Take a look at these stats from BicycleUniverse.info:

• If every commuter car in the U.S. carried just one more person, we’d save 8 billion gallons of gas a year.
• Using a bicycle to commute four days a week for four miles (one-way) saves 54 gallons of gas annually.

Some more good information on how to start a bike-to-work program is available in this article from Inc. magazine.

Creating a green office really isn’t all that tough. There are few simple changes any company can implement, but they are changes that will go a long way toward creating an office with a smaller carbon footprint.

• Recycling. It may sound basic, but there are still plenty of businesses that toss their papers, newspapers and plastic soda bottles in the trash can. It just takes a phone call to find a company that will come to your office to collect recyclable materials. If you work in an office complex alongside other companies, consider having all the businesses chip in to cover the cost.
• Paper usage. Encourage your employees to cut back on the use of office supplies. This not only is good for the environment, but can save you money too. Use e-fax services, urge employees to think before they print, and make sure you have a server setup where employees can easily share documents electronically. And be sure to purchase recycled paper for those instances when printing is needed.
• Batteries. More workers are using wireless a keyboard and mouse, which usually require a couple batteries. First, use rechargeable batteries and then be sure to recycle all batteries. You might consider having employees turn in their old batteries before they can get new ones. That way you know for sure the batteries are getting recycled. Check out Earth911.com for a list of nearby recycling centers.
• The break room. Take a good look around your break room or office kitchen. Now, eliminate Styrofoam cups, plastic utensils, paper plates and plastic water cups. Buy some coffee mugs with the company logo and give one to every employee. Stock up on a few pieces of silverware and some reusable plates and glasses. It might take an extra minute to clean the items after they’re used, but it’s saving the environment – and the cost of purchasing throwaway cups and plates.
• Make going green fun. You can create a green team who will brainstorm and research ways the office can be environmentally friendly. Offer incentives for employees who reach a certain level of environmental responsibility (give a party to the department that reduces its office supply budget the most by cutting back on printing). The point is to find a way to get employees excited about having a green office.