What Employees Can Do to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The county is engaged in extensive energy efficiency efforts in the areas of renewable energy and how we manage our buildings and our fleet. In addition, each county employee has an important role to play in conserving energy.

When we all make changes to conserve energy, we save money that can be redirected to programs and lessen our impact on the environment. 

Take the following steps to reduce your impact on climate change:

Rethink your commute to work

• Consider telecommuting. By working from home or from mobile locations, we can reduce traffic congestion and the need for office space, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Try riding your bike to work. Bike lanes, bike routes maps and other local bicycle resources, like the guaranteed ride home program, make it easy to add biking to your commuting options.
• Use public transportation. The county offers subsidies for metro transit passes (subsidies link is to the county Intranet site) to employees.
• Find a carpool partner. Hennepin county offers a database (database link is to an internal county server) of employees who are looking for co-workers to carpool, or use MetroTransit's region-wide carpool/vanpool planner.

Conserve fuel when driving a county vehicle

Simple changes in your driving habits can make a big difference in fuel economy, energy saving and greenhouse gas emissions.

• Slow down. As speed increases, fuel economy decreases exponentially. Don't exceed the speed limit.
• Avoid jack-rabbit starts and hard braking. Accelerate and brake smoothly and moderately.
• Eliminate idling at start-up and while stopped for more than a minute or two. Warm up the vehicle by driving at a moderate speed.
• Plan trips and routes to avoid unnecessary driving. Car pool with other employees or teleconference when practical.
• Remove unnecessary items and weight from the vehicle. One hundred pounds of extra weight can reduce fuel economy up to 2 percent.

Dress for the county's temperature guidelines

Dress appropriately for the county's temperature guidelines of 69 degrees for the winter months and 75 degrees for the summer months. In the winter, dress warmly and wear layers. In the summer, opt for short sleeves.

Use less energy in your work space

• Avoid the use of prohibited appliances in county facilities. Prohibited appliances include portable heaters, humidifiers, air cleaners, electric coffee cup warmers and holiday decorations.
• Turn off the lights in conference rooms, offices and other spaces when they aren't being used for extended periods of times.
• Turn off electronics such as task lights, lamps, radios, fans and computer monitors in individual work areas at the end of each work day.
• Turn off office machines and equipment at the end of the work day when possible.

Reduce, reuse and recycle at work

When we use less, we reduce the amount of energy needed to extract, transport and process raw materials required in manufacturing products. Recycling also saves energy because making goods from recycled materials requires less energy than making goods from raw materials.

• Save paper. Think before you print. Ask yourself "Do I really need to print this out?" Send and file documents electronically.
• Print double-sided whenever you do need to print something.
• Use the surplus property bulletin board (bulletin board link is to an internal county server) to facilitate the exchange and reuse of surplus furniture and equipment among departments.
• Use the reuse/recycle bulletin board (bulletin board link is to an internal county server) to let someone else have a chance to give your old stuff new life.
• Take a second look at the county's in-house recycling program to make sure you are recycling everything you can.
• Look into the Lead by Example Incentive Fund, which funds start-up projects aimed at reducing waste and the use of hazardous chemicals, increasing environmentally preferable purchasing and anything else related to solid waste.
• Make your next meeting a green meeting.

Purchase green products

• Look for the most environmentally friendly products
• Buy and use green cleaning products for cleaning white boards, desks, shelves and kitchenettes.
• Buy green office supplies.
• Pack a waste-free lunch by using a reusable lunch bag and reusable containers.
• Look for products with reduced packaging, and buy in bulk.
• Look for the EnergyStar label when purchasing appliances and electronics to make sure you are getting the most energy efficient model.
• Buy the least toxic/hazardous product available to get the job done.

For more information see the county's green purchasing information.