GOW this year takes place from Monday, 22 to Friday, 26 April with the global environmental theme of water: GOW will highlight the importance of conserving water this year as it is the UN's sustainability theme for 2013; it is vital to get all South Africans to understand the link between water and the survival of the Earth's species.
Water is a critical concern for businesses worldwide and is going to be a major asset for every citizen, every business and every government into the future.
Ana-Maria Valente, Green Office Week spokesman, said: "GOW was designed to empower workers to realise that everyone - from the office cleaner to the MD - can make a positive impact on the environment whilst in the office.
"During the week, organisations focus on how to improve their recycling, waste management; water and energy conservation; buying green and reducing carbon footprint.
"This year's motto is Lead the team; Keep it Green, which aims to get all working citizens to be active in motivating not only themselves, but those around them as well to have better values."
To make the planning of activities as simple as possible, all the tips and ideas that you and your colleagues need to get started can be downloaded free from the website www.greenofficeweek.co.za.
The toolkit gives the necessary guidelines that make participation easier. The week starts off with a focus on saving water, Tuesday will focus on reducing the carbon footprint, Wednesday on saving energy, Thursday on reducing waste and Friday on green eventing.
Valente said: "We know that time is limited for most working people, so the obvious thing to do is to make green office behaviours as easy as possible by providing actionable ideas covering the key areas where everyone can go green."
For tips and updates, like the Facebook page, follow GOW on Twitter @greenofficeweek and go to www.greenofficeweek.co.za for the toolkit.
