Considering Green Office Policies

I work all day with a voltmeter sitting in front of me.

As I do electronic hypnotism, I work all day at a desk that has a stack of electronic devices sitting on top of it. One of these gadgets is a Furman Voltage Regulator AR-20.

This boxy thing is sort of like a very sophisticated surge protector for my equipment. What makes it especially useful is that it contains a transformer. If the power levels coming from the Power Company drop below the level needed by my equipment, the Furman will cycle up instantly and supply the extra voltage needed.

One feature of the Furman is that it has a LCD display of the level of voltage being supplied by the Power Company. It's troubling to realize how seldom the Power Company is actually supplying the product they charge for. They should be putting out 120 volts, but often it is far less than that. I've seen it get as low as 94 volts.

This "brown out" is not a small thing. They're charging you full price for a unit of electricity that actually contains less power than they claim. This is no different that if your gas station kept selling you watered gas for full price. Your car will run on it, but you will not get anything like the mileage per gallon you paid for.

But I find all this does keep me mindful of the need to live my life respectful of the earth's limited resources. So I've decided to do a practice review to determine if there are things I could do in my practice to make it a bit more "green."

I'm considering moving from the plastic cases I supply with the CDs I give my clients to envelopes made of re-cycled paper. Perhaps also moving to emailed receipts as a PDF document instead of printing a hard copy for everyone. These are small things but I suspect they will add up.