Green is the colour strongly associated with ecology. So far it has been missing not only from the logo of the Gdańsk Tourist Organisation. HOWEVER… Things are going to change as of 1 January 2009.

On that day, all our employees at 29 Heweliusza street in Gdańsk will start wearing green glasses and looking at the surrounding world with more sympathy. Being eco-friendly is not only popular – it is becoming a must. Therefore the Gdańsk Tourist Organisation, being a dynamic organisation, will not sit back and let others overtake us.

As yet we are not as green as the Centre for Information and Ecological Education in Gdańsk but we are doing our best. We are developing friendly cooperation with them asking for advice on how to go green and taking part in monthly meetings of eco lovers. More about CIEE at: www.ciee-gda.pl.

Here are some examples of green initiatives in our office:

1. Office appliances:

• Our computers and the photocopier are switched to standby mode.
• We have installed eco wallpapers and eco screensavers on our PCs.
• When we go home after work, we do not leave our appliances on standby – we do not rely on somebody else to switch them off for us.
• The radio does not always have to be on – if we are not listening to it, we switch it off.
• In winter we wear warmer clothes – thanks to that our heaters are not on full blast.
• In summer we wear light clothes made of natural fibers – fans also consume energy.
• We recycle batteries and fax and printer cartridges.

2. We love natural green:

• The colour green is not only healthy for the eyes but also has a soothing effect on us. In the office we are surrounded by plants because we feel that all the office appliances emit radiation which affects us every day.

3. Coffee break:

• We protect the environment by bringing packed lunches – we do not use telecatering services.
• We bring our sandwiches in recyclable boxes rather than carefully wrapped in paper and a plastic bag or aluminium foil.
• We choose only regional products, e.g. with the logo of ‘Poland: Now!’
• We do not use plastic bags – we prefer the ones made of natural materials.

4. Waste paper:

• We remember that each page has two printable sides and computer software allows us to adjust margins.
• In order to write down a phone number we need just a few cm2 rather than a whole A4 page. You can also train your memory.
• Emails do not have to be printed – you can store them on a pen drive or any other storage device.
• Instead of readymade colourful index cards we use scraps of unprinted paper (in your free time you can cut out funny shapes).
• Waste paper (newspapers) is stored and then taken to recycling centres and exchanged for tree saplings.

5. Water:

• We always make sure that the tap is always turned off unless we are washing our hands or dishes.

6. Rubbish sorting:

• We sort rubbish and dispose of it in appropriate containers.

7. Saving energy:

• We always switch off the light if we do not need it.
• Around the light switches we have placed noticed about saving energy.
• We use energy saving light bulbs.

8. Raising awarenes:

• Our email footers contain a request not to print them.
• We inform others about the advantages of being eco-friendly.