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Spring has arrived, which means it’s time to clean and tidy up your living spaces, including your office. Whether you work from home or commute to the office, a clean and organized workspace can increase productivity and help to reduce stress. Spring is also an excellent time to lean into meeting your environmental sustainability goals with greener purchases and practices.
Check out these five tips for creating a cleaner and greener workspace.
1. Declutter
Before you start cleaning and organizing, take time to declutter your office space. Start by clearing off all the flat surfaces like your desk, shelves and file cabinets. You’ll probably find several items that you don’t need anymore. To keep it simple, start three piles on the floor — one for items you’d like to keep, another for items you can recycle or donate and one for items you intend to throw away.
As you declutter your office, create a list of office supplies you’ll need to restock or replace. You can also decide if you need more storage solutions or organizational items and add them to your list.
2. Clean
Now that you’ve decluttered your office, it’s time to make it shine. Dust and wipe down all the flat surfaces, light switches, windows and lamps. This is also a great time to clean your chair, keyboard, mouse, monitor and other electronics. Before you vacuum, sweep or mop the floor, make sure to pick up or move the furniture so you can reach all the nooks and crannies.
Consider using more eco-conscious cleaning supplies to help reduce your environmental impact. Solutions from the Highmark® ECO line — which includes all-purpose cleaner and degreaser, glass and mirror cleaner and paper towels and trashcan liners made from recycled materials — are a greener and affordable choice. Available exclusively at Office Depot, each solution is EPA Safer Choice certified, easy to use and offers quality cleaning power.
3. Organize
Once you’ve decluttered and cleaned your office and surrounding spaces, you’ll need to find a place for everything you’ve kept. Fine-tune your previous organizational system or create a new one that reflects and facilitates how you use your workspace. You can also play around with the flow of your office by moving your desk, tables and other furniture around to create a space that is functional and feels right to you. Depending on the work you do, you may want to even think about creating different areas for different tasks.
If you made a list of storage and organizational products during your decluttering phase, check out your local Office Depot or OfficeMax store or officedepot.com for deals on hundreds of solutions to meet your needs. If you’re redecorating your office, look for desks with organizational and storage solutions, baskets, shelving and other items to have designated spots in your space for all your supplies and equipment. Having dedicated spaces for each item or piece of equipment can help you stay tidy during the week so you can focus on your work.
4. Restock
When restocking your items, consider going green — which doesn’t have to be complicated. There are plenty of ways you can change your daily habits and consumption to lead a more sustainable life, including using more eco-conscious alternatives for your most-used products like notepads, pens, paper and ink. The Office Depot® GreenerOffice™ assortment includes thousands of high-quality, greener products with eco-attributes and eco-labels to help customers reduce their environmental impact.
5. Recycle
Regardless of how careful you are, everyone is guilty of creating waste, so it’s important to cultivate an office lifestyle that allows you to be successful and more sustainable.
When you’re ready to recycle your used office supplies, research local recycling programs to dispose of the items correctly and safely. Office Depot offers several recycling programs, including ink and toner recycling, secure document shredding and recycling, and tech recycling and trade-in offerings.
For more organizational tips, greener supplies and more, visit OfficeDepot.com.
