Eco-friendly action #1: Extend the lifespan of your equipment
From production to end of life, smartphones, tablets and computers have a significant impact on the environment. Keeping your PC for two extra years can cut in half the environmental footprint tied to its manufacture. A lot of people buy a new phone even though their old phone is in good working condition. Keeping your electronic devices longer is the biggest step you can take to help reduce their impact.
Eco-friendly action #2: Give your equipment a second life
How can we give our devices a second life to keep them from ending up in the trash?
First option: by reusing them. An old PC can serve as a second screen for remote work, while smartphones can double as MP3 players or gaming consoles if they still retain these functions.
Second option: by recycling them and buying refurbished devices. Why not ask your company to buy refurbished devices? Orange has been involved in phone recycling for 10 years and has already collected more than 16 million phones in all the countries where the Group is present. A hundred million phones are still sleeping in our drawers, and we think it's time to wake. Simply bring your unwanted devices into an Orange shop.
Eco-friendly action #3: Reduce the energy consumption of your devices
Smartphones, tablets and screens use a lot of energy, even when they are switched off. It’s important to pay close attention to this. Need a few tips for reducing their energy use? Close any applications that use a lot of data, as well as location services, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not in use. Toggle your screen to dark mode or even turn off or unplug your devices instead of leaving them in sleep mode after you are finished using them.
Eco-friendly action #4: Print less and better
The rise in digital has not reduced our use of paper: 25% of documents are still thrown out just five minutes after printing, and 16% are never even read. Every employee can help improve this situation by printing documents only when necessary. Depending on your needs, print in black and white, use environmentally certified recycled paper and print on both sides of the paper.
Eco-friendly action #5: Lighten your browsing habits
15,000 km: that is the average distance traveled by digital data. Learning to browse lightly means limiting the amount of data you use every day. It starts by choosing a network connection with a lighter impact. Using Wi-Fi is less energy intensive than using mobile networks. Next, videos watched in the office, during remote work or on any small screen can be streamed in low definition. Turn off auto play features, and opt to download videos instead of streaming: this can also help reduce your data use.
Regularly deleting your temporary files and browsing history is another useful habit to adopt. Finally, entering specific web addresses can limit your reliance on search engines: each employee can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by a factor of four by going directly to a website instead of searching for it first.
Eco-friendly action #6: Send and receive fewer emails
The more recipients an email has, the bigger its impact. Employees can therefore limit the number of email recipients while optimizing the size of sent files by compressing attachments or using file transfer services for larger documents. Unsubscribing to unwanted newsletters, using shared drives and visiting your co-worker’s desk instead of sending an email are all good practices to adopt today.
Sharing and pooling best practices
Orange Business, as part of its commitment to digital responsibility, aims to reduce the impact of digital through economies in equipment, networks and energy while developing best practices together with its employees. Employees organize events to raise awareness among their co-workers and participate in a range of eco-friendly actions. A CO2 calculator is also available to help employees learn about their carbon footprint.