New Year’s resolutions can be about as daunting as those polar bear plunges some people take on January 1^st. So instead of making pointless pledges, why not consider tackling something that really counts.

Of course, I’m referring to your real estate practice and how you can make it more eco-friendly. The New Year is clearly a good time to re-evaluate your business, to pinpoint what you liked and to discard what you didn’t and to note what changes you would like to make this year. If going green or greener appeals to you, here are a number of resolutions for your 2013 list:

Stop the Paper Trail – Easier said than done. Who said we’d be rid of paper once computers took over?  Still, there are options for eliminating our dependence on trees. An obvious no brainer option is to promote email and text messaging instead of hard-copy communications with vendors, customers and colleagues, which many of us are already doing.

Consider printing documents to PDF files. PDF printers offer a quick and easy way to convert documents into the Portable Data Format. A PDF printer is a virtual printer. Instead of printing documents to paper, it converts them to PDFs that you can share, upload and print. If you’re a Mac user, that’s easy as they have a ‘Save as PDF’ option already built in. Windows users need free software such as Bullzip or Cute PDF Writer, but that’s easily available online.

Using QR codes in your marketing helps reduce the amount of paper generated as smartphone users can instantly acquire information about a property without having to get out of their vehicle, and, more importantly, retrieve your paper-based marketing material. QR or Quick Response codes essentially send information about a listing electronically to the viewer.

Adopt marketing strategies that employ an online presence instead of mail or direct marketing. Using websites to advertise a property is one example. Or how about marketing your services thanks to a blog or an e-newsletter?

Digitizing all of the mounds of paperwork from all of the parties involved in a real estate transaction might sound impossible but there are firms specializing in software that digitizes the contract-to-closing process. While some realtors are pushing ahead in that direction, there still seems to be questions as to whether electronic signatures are legal and binding. Regardless, it’s likely that the industry will move toward becoming a paperless profession.

Recycle – It’s an old word but a good one. If you can’t eliminate your reliance on paper use, in the very least please recycle it. Place recycling bins next to the copiers and near all the trash cans. This will remind colleagues to use the bins instead of throwing all the paper bits in the trash.

Patronize vendors who will take back or recycle packaging. Many suppliers will reclaim their packaging to reuse or recycle. Recycle the packaging in your office by reusing boxes and repurposing them for organizing closets and storage areas.

Purchase printer and copy paper with the highest recycled content. Every office purchases printer and copy paper. When you order or otherwise purchase copy and printer paper for your office, be sure to select recycled paper with the highest percentage of recycled content.

If possible, print and copy documents on both sides of the paper. Educate co-workers to reuse the backs of recyclable paper. If your copier allows, try to print and copy double-sided documents.

Power Down — Turn off office equipment at the end of the workday and over the weekends. Many offices may save up to 25 per cent of the energy used to run the office simply by powering down the equipment during off hours. If you implement the additional step of turning off equipment that is not in use during working hours, you may even save an additional 25 per cent in energy usage.

Install a programmable thermostat. If you are in a stand-alone or home office, install a programmable thermostat that lets you program the device to turn down or turn off the heating and air conditioning during off hours.

Change all the light bulbs in the office to the compact fluorescent type. These light bulbs will last longer and produce a cleaner, brighter light on much lower wattage compared to traditional bulbs.

Green Vehicles – Since vehicles are responsible for a large chunk of greenhouse gas emissions consider purchasing a hybrid company vehicle. If the company is large enough to have a fleet and can afford the investment, convert the entire fleet to hybrid vehicles. This allows agents to share with clients their eco smarts. More importantly, it shows that you sincerely put your money where your mouth is.

Try greening up your practice a little more this year, if you haven’t already. The world is worth it.

The National Association of Green Agents and Brokers (NAGAB) provide a Greenbroker and Greenagent certification program to Realtors across Canada. To get more information or to sign up for a course, visit www.nagab.org. Elden Freeman M.E.S., AGB, broker is the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization. 1-877-524-9494 Email elden@nagab.org.