Being an eco-friendly company not only promotes environmental stewardship, it also helps Andrews Media reduce our costs and waste.  Even in an electrically powered industry like modern media production, simple habits can keep power consumption in check.

     To save those kilowatts, we make sure to turn off the lights when leaving work areas unattended.  Paying attention makes the most difference when it comes to preventing waste, but gadgets like motion sensors, CFL bulbs and LCD computer screens also pitch in on the effort.  For these minimal up-front investments, energy usage drops, equipment runs cooler and the environment gets a break.

     Beyond turning off the lights in empty spaces, we've made it a habit to leave the overhead fluorescents off in our cubicle farm.  This area also contains some of our editing suites, and the desk lighting tends to be more than adequate while reducing eye strain.  Another
win-win for AMS and the planet!

     Remember the paperless society?  While most companies still rely heavily on paper documents, we're taking the initiative to offer PDFs via e-mail as an alternative to conventional fax transactions.  Cost-wise, we still have that old fax machine plugged in today, but thanks to computer printers with integrated scanners and fax-to-email web services, that will soon be a thing of the past.  Customers tend to love the ability to have a "soft" copy of important documents that they can keep in their e-mail programs, and the filing and storage reductions on our end have been great too.

    Everybody likes to save at the pump, and an office carpool initiative really helped everyone get through the last gas hike.  Today, it continues as a way of reducing vehicle wear and tear and, of course, keeping that gallon meter at bay.

     Lastly, the 'business-end' of our quest for environmental responsibility is the important part.  Thankfully, there are a wealth of new and inexpensive audiovisual technologies that work smarter and better than their conventional counterparts.  Some of our favorites:

- solid-state digital video recording
(quasi-infinitely reusable media and no bulky tapes make just as
much sense as the time-saving aspects of editing non-linearly!)

- LED lighting instruments
(WAY less power consumption and cooler operation are nice on the hands)

- LCD screens
(cheaper and more survivable than plasma screens, HD looks great
on today's liquid crystal displays and uses a lot less energy than old TVs)

     Think about how being more eco-friendly can benefit you in the short-term while we all work toward a cleaner tomorrow.  It's the right thing to do, and it just makes sense.