Environmental Statement

What can I do to save the planet - not a lot. But if everyone did their little bit then all these little bits add up and together will make a great difference. As an added plus you save money!

SAVE PAPER, INK and POST
I use email to save on postage cost, paper, ink and time. Saves trees, transport, energy all needed to make the paper and deliver it, even recycled paper consumes energy to clean and transport it. It costs (transport and energy) to dump or recycle the waste paper. The post uses transport to collect and deliver. This also saves on fuel and reduces pollution.  Saves on ink and toner most come in plastic cartridges that could be recycled but in most cases are not, some even have a microchip in them to prevent them being refilled and most end up in land fills.

SAVE TIME AUTO FINDING
The other problem with paper is trying to find the bit you want unless you have a well organised filling system which takes both time and space and then you have to remember, what did you file it under? Many things could be filed under different headings.

With electronic filing on the other hand you can search to whole lot in minutes for keywords, titles etc. With hard drives and USB memory so cheap and small. Can also be archived onto CD's (600Mbytes) and DVD's (4Gbytes). But make sure you back up these files in case of fire, theft or drive failure. Best to have a copy in different premises ie, home data backup at work or at your mothers etc., work files at home in case of fire or theft. Paper files in a fire are lost unless you buy a very expensive fire proof safe.  Backed up files stored in a different location can be a lifesaver. Rather then spending hours backing up all files you automatically back up only the files created or changed since the last backup. This can be done at no cost using dos bat and xcopy (PC). You need a bit of time to write the script which automates the process. If you want a bit of help with this let me know. You can buy commercial software for this. Personally I am against backup programs which combine all the files into one big compressed file. Whist this saves space, file corruption can mean the whole lot is lost. Also the individual files have to be "recovered" first. Disk space is so cheap now, is it worth the trouble?

ACROSS PLATFORM FILE READER
There is very little that I must actually post. Invoices, statements, for example are printed as PDF files ready to be emailed to the client. The same with proofs etc. PDF files can be read on any computer PC, MAC or UNIX by using Adobe Reader obtainable for free from adobe-reader. This means that the client doesn't need the creation program to be able to open the file. If you need help with this please let me know.

INTERNET USED FOR PROOFING
I put hidden pages and other visuals for discussion on the internet so that both the client and myself can view and discuss while viewing the object of discussion.

Websites under development or being revamped are put in a hidden temporary web folder on the internet. A link to this hidden work is emailed to the client who on clicking this link can view the proposed site or artwork privately, which can be password protected to prevent unauthorised viewing

I can be sitting comfortably here, the client can be anywhere in the world, we can both look at the same internet page, artwork or whatever I put up for discussion. We can freely discuss by voice via MSN (free) VOIP cheaper that normal telephone with the added advantage hands free via freestanding desk mike and loudspeakers or teletype via msn or via a private chat room hidden on my website for the passing of links which can be clicked on to display the content. So as we both see, hear and get the links instantly its a good as the client in the same room without the inconvenience and cost of travelling. It also has the advantage that its not limited to two, with conferencing it can be extended to almost an unlimited number.

SAVE MONEY ON ENERGY
I have been using florescent tubes hidden been behind curtain pelmets and other screens in the dinning and living rooms before the low energy bulbs were invented tubes to keep the bill small.  Now it is practical to have these energy saving bulbs everywhere.

RUBBISH IS A RESOURCE
We grow what we can. I have two allotments plus our garden and grow a wide variety of vegetables and fruit, saving cost and the pollution caused by moving our food long distances as an added plus we know what we use to produce no chemicals natural fertilizers and compost.  We composted the kitchen waste and weeds etc., this returns the goodness back to the soil. Plastic, metal, cloth and paper all can be recycled. In fact very little needs to end up as a landfill. The main problem is easier just the bin everything and don't bother to sort it into different bins!

If you need help on designing templates for word, email signatures, how to utilise email more fully or email marketing please contact me.