With more people working at home, a lot of unnecessary commuting can become a thing of the past for many.? But the home office environment is rarely a symbol of environmental efficiency itself.? Mountains of wasted paper across your desk.? The heater blasting.? A computer that never sleeps.? If you want to tighten up these glitches, here are 10 eco-friendly changes to make in your home office.

1.? Unplug Yourself from the Grid
Sitting in a brightly lit room with the curtains closed and blasting an air conditioner while a cool breeze blows across the yard?? All those hours stuck in the office can add up to high energy costs.? Open the windows for a draft or open the blinds to let in natural light and heat.? Make your work time less of a drain on the power grid.

2.? Bring Back the Paperless Office
The paperless office was once a dream and the future of the internet, but as the future has arrived it turns out our virtual lifestyles often end up creating more waste.? There are so many file-sharing, file-storing, and back up programs available now that there is really no need to keep paper records of everything as long as you use multiple storage medias, and our communication methods make most other reasons for printing just plain ridiculous.

3.? Maximize Your Paper
When you do print, keep it limited and use both sides of the paper sheets if at all possible. Buy recycled paper or papers made from.? When possible, be sure to recycle. Use a paper shredder to dispose of paper?you can even use it in your garden.

4.? Be a Computer Nerd
By becoming more tech savvy, you can learn more even more ways limit paper needs and increase productivity.? Organize things well online and there is less chance of losing files, which is often the reason a user prints out something out of frustration.

5.? Manage E-Waste
Dispose of e-waste properly to minimize environmental impact and before you replace something just because it is environmentally friendly, be sure you know the actual environmental trade-off of wasting the old model to buy the new.? Many times a computer can be recycled to make use of its spare parts or passed on to someone who needs it if it is still in working fashion.? Here is an idea.? Give it to a young person and encourage them to start a website about promoting green principles.

6.? Shut Your Computer Off
Just like your other appliances, you should always turn off your computer when you?re not using it so it doesn?t continue draining power.? According to the Alliance to Save Energy, $2.8 billion dollars is spent annually in America alone by people who simply leave their computers running.

7.? Use Green-Powered Online Services
Even our ?virtual? world has a physical impact on the Earth.? A web hosting server, for instance, is responsible for the same emission levels of a 15mpg automobile.? Fortunately, many companies are stepping up to the plate and using renewable energy resources to run their systems.? Hostgator and Green Hosting are two examples.? Find out what other online services you use for your business or personal life and identify the industry leaders who make the effort to be green.

8.? Learn Productivity Skills
Not only do productivity skills teach you how to make your time more efficient, but if you can learn to work better faster, than you spend less time on the computer, correct?? Not to mention the train of thought associated with productivity thinking spills over into other areas of life.? More efficiency is usually a good thing when we?re talking about out interaction with the environment.

9.? Use Recycled Furniture
Cheap office furniture is always easy to come by.? Forget about that stylish brand new office setup you want to buy so the people who never see your office think you are a professional.? Hit up your friends who are downsizing.? Check out craisglist.com for cheap purchases or freecycle.org for free furniture.? Hit yard sales and second-hand stores.? There is plenty of decent furniture out there to snatch up.

10.? Stop Being a Computer Geek
Are all those wasted hours online really necessary?? It isn?t doing much for those productivity skills you?ve been learning, and the chances are you are going to play around on that cool new site about picking up women for a few hours and never apply it to the real world, so save the trouble.? Instead, why not go outside and meet some real people?? Use that extra time you?ve created by doing something worth doing.? It?s better for the environment and better for you.

These are just a few things you can do to make the home office a greener room and a greener part of your life.? Just like any other area of you life, there are countless changes, small and big, to make you mark on the world less significant.? Get creative.? That is the real key.? And look through the habits you have created for yourself that are based on old foundations of thought.? Bring the green lifestyle into your office, make it a comfortable healthy place to work, and get on that computer to start making social changes.

President Barack Obama was sworn in as the nation’s 44th President on January 20, and while it obviously takes time for real change to happen (especially in an organization as large as the Federal Government), the administration is already hard at work when it comes to the environment. Many of us who supported and voted for President Obama did so with the understanding that he would address the environment in an honest, and non-partisan manner once elected. In looking over some of his first actions as President, it appears that Obama is sticking to this agenda, and that the environment is not going to be swept under the rug for another 4 years.

The EPA has serious work to do in the next few years, and Obama’s pick to head the organization shows that he is serious about not allowing politics to derail the process. By tapping Lisa Jackson – a career civil servant who has dedicated her professional life to protecting the environment – Obama sent a message that EPA will not be run by outsiders. Jackson worked for the EPA for 16 years, and spent another 6 years at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Having spent her career regulating greenhouse gases, pollution and hazardous waste, Jackson is well suited to tighten regulations and demand compliance from businesses used to the Bush Administration’s somewhat ‘lax’ environmental policies.

To introduce herself and her governing principles, Jackson sent a memo to the EPA staff on January 23 (the day Congress confirmed her to the post). In her memo, Jackson sums up the new philosophy of the EPA in stating the 3 core values that will guide the EPA:

1. To uphold Science as the backbone for EPA programs.

2. To not compromise the integrity of EPA experts in order to advance a particular regulatory outcome.

3. To follow the rule of law – to exercise policy discretion and follow the directives of Congress and the courts.

Before the Bush administration took over the EPA, I would have simply assumed that the organization was being run according to these policies; after watching science, ethics and legal mandates being tossed aside for the past 8 years however, it’s refreshing to know that Obama’s surrogates are returning rationality and science to the forefront of the nation’s governance.

In addition to these administrative changes, Jackson outlined the directions in which she plans on taking the EPA during her tenure. Over the next few years, Jackson is going to guide the nation towards a low-carbon economy by reducing carbon emissions and creating “green-collar” jobs. She wants to improve air quality and intends to comply with legal air quality standards and tighten regulations to close loopholes that allow polluters to side-step current laws.

Jackson also intends to clean up the nation’s Superfund sites, protect consumers, employees and the environment from risks posed by the introduction of toxic chemicals into every day products, and address the health of the nation’s streams, rivers, lakes, bays, oceans and aquifers. With the backing of an environmentally-focused President and the legislative support of Congress, Jackson should be able to address these basic issues and allow the EPA to fulfill its mission of protecting human health and the environment.

So at last, the end is near. On Tuesday we will collectively change the course of America and elect either Senator Barack Obama or Senator John McCain as the next President of the United States. After 2 years of nearly non-stop campaigning, hundreds of millions of dollars spent on advertising, and near media saturation by both candidates over the past few weeks, the end is finally in sight.

As I sit here tonight listening to the American Roots “Singing and Swinging the Election 2008” radio program, I can really see that a revolution has been taking place in small towns, suburbs and big cities across this country. Sitting here, listening to Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie, and Ralph Stanley sing protest songs about rising up as a nation and taking back the reigns of power, I feel a sense of change is in the air. Revolutions don’t just happen -they require the commitment, strength, energy, funds, and sweat-equity of ordinary people. And at this time in our history, the ordinary people of this country are standing up for that in which they believe, and while we don’t all believe in the same things, the fact that so many people have taken the time to stand up for their beliefs is powerful.

It took me most of this year to really warm up to him, but in the past few months I have been increasingly moved by Barack Obama’s compassion and understanding of the American people, by his vision for the future of this nation, and by his plea for personal responsibility, engagement and support from each and every one of us. I appreciate the fact that Senator Obama is a populist – that he believes regular people can change the country for the better -? and that he seems to understand his greatest strength is the citizenry of this country. And while I am tired of the radio and TV commercials, annoyed by the glossy flyers that land in my mailbox, and repulsed by the daily attacks by both parties, I know that the end is near.

So here is my message to any and all reading this post – whatever you do on Tuesday, please make sure you VOTE! If you don’t vote, you give up your voice in the debate, and you relinquish a little piece of your personal power. Our government is “…of the people, by the people, for the people,” and in order to be included in the process, every eligible citizen needs to get out and vote! And while this post is not specifically related to the environment or green buying, the outcome of this election will very much impact the future of this nation and this planet’s environmental well-being.

I have already written about both Obama and McCain’s environmental viewpoints and policies, and I have no problem stating that a vote for Obama is a vote for responsible, scientifically sound environmental policies that will benefit all of our futures. With this election, you have the opportunity to do what is best for the the planet and all of its inhabitants, so do your civic duty and vote on Tuesday, November 4!

Here’s to hope and a community activist who really believes in the power of the people!

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