learning how to make their offices more "green''.

The "Green Office'' seminar, held at the Hamilton Princess, was organised by accountancy firm Kempe and Whittle, the Chamber of Commerce and Works and Engineering in a bid to encourage firms to cut down on waste and start doing things in the office that would be less harmful to the environment.

Guest speaker, Mr. Howard Gordon of Trilogy Associates Inc. in the US, discussed having a "paperless'' office through the use of imaging technology.

"With imaging technology, all paper work, periodicals etc. can be stored on a CD for data, which would rid businesses of using enormous amounts of paper.

"The image of whatever is on the paper can be put on a screen as it would be seen on the paper,'' he explained.

Right now we are doing pilot studies at the Bank of Bermuda in their personnel department to determine how they should go about utilising imaging technology.

"We chose to use the personnel department because it is a controlled environment and we could examine the advantages.'' He estimated that Bermuda firms wasted 13 tons of paper a year. "It would be great if we could reduce that.'' Waste education and enforcement officer for Works and Engineering, Ms Jane Brett discussed waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

"Waste reduction, also known as source reduction, is simply garbage prevention,'' she said.

"If you don't produce it you won't have to throw it away.

"There are many environmental benefits from waste prevention. Avoiding waste slows the depletion of natural resources, cuts down on the pollution associated with the manufacture of certain products and reduces the volume of waste requiring handling and disposal.'' Ms Brett also noted that waste prevention offered other advantages such as: Savings in material and supply costs and savings from more efficient work practices.

An enhanced corporate image. An environmentally conscious company might attract customers.

Improved employee morale. Employees appreciate a company's effort to prevent waste.

"It may seem that waste reduction requires a fundamental change in attitude on the part of the business or individual but if you look more closely it is really just getting back to a business basic -- reduce cost, increase profits.'' Ms Brett informed the group of the basic waste prevention strategies such as using products with minimal or reusable packaging.

"Encourage your suppliers to offer products with reduced or minimal packaging. Choose products that come in reusable packaging or that are offered in bulk rate.'' Businesses should consider investing in quality, long lasting supplies and equipment that could be easily repaired.

"These items will stay out of the waste stream longer and the higher initial costs may be justified by lower maintenance and replacement costs.

"Setting up a regular maintenance schedule for machines will extend their useful lives, cutting back on waste and the need to replace expensive equipment.'' Manager of Premises Management at the Bank of Butterfield, Mr. Don Jolliffe spoke of ways of getting ideas for recycling off the ground.

Mr. Jolliffe was the winner of the first National Trust award for having the best idea for helping the environment to recycle oil in 1970.

When he was the chief engineer at the Bermudiana Hotel in the '70s, he realised that he could reuse oil from garages and Belco.

"The hotel used to burn 1,000 gallons of oil a day to generate steam and make water.

"Belco and different garages did not know how to get rid of their oil so they would dump it in caves on the Base and up at Dockyard.

"I came up with the idea to recycle the oil, that was five to six inches thick floating in the water inside caves, and use it in the hotel.'' While at the bank Mr. Jolliffe has helped save $250,000 a year since 1990 by shutting down equipment which was running unnecessarily.

He also said that in five years he and staff members of the bank had planted over 1,000 trees around Bermuda.