When it comes to being successful in business, virtually everyone wants to make their mark on the world. This doesn't mean that they have to leave their carbon footprint on it, though. If you're not familiar with that term, it's basically a catchphrase that speaks to how much carbon dioxide your daily choices are causing you to produce. And, as we all know, too much in the environment is unhealthy.

If you'd like to know how you can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, you don't need a business MBA or to have graduated from one of the top online MBA programs in the country. There are many simple things that can work wonders when it comes to environmental conservation in the workplace. Here are just five of them.

Go with a Laptop

Did you know that laptops actually use 80% less energy than a desktop? Aside from laptops being great for the environment, they're also convenient because they are lightweight and portable. This makes it a lot easier way to convince your boss to allow you to work from home every once in a while (by the way, telecommuting to save oil is also a great "go green" tip!).

How Much Paper Do You Use?

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010, close to forty-five million tons of paper were recovered. That's a lot of paper! In doing your part to cut down on paper usage, remember that you can read most newspapers (and a lot of magazines as well) online and when printing copies of something, try your best to use both the front and back sides.

Go Without Bottled Water

It used to be that if you wanted to save a few extra bucks each month, you needed to not eat out so much. That's still a good tip; however, there's something else that you should add to that list: reduce the amount of bottled water that your purchase. At one dollar or so a pop, by the end of the month, that can get to be pretty expensive. Aside from the money you're spending, according to the National Tap Water Database, bottled water is no better for you than tap and the packaging of it produces close to two million tons of plastic per year. Use a recyclable bottle instead and suggest getting some water filters placed on the faucets in the bathrooms and kitchen.

Rethink Appliances

Yeah, this one may be a hard pill to swallow. Some of us live for the break room where we can check out fifteen minutes of programming on a plasma TV while microwaving the lunch we brought from home. The truth of the matter is that most of what you're watching on television is streaming on the Web and aside from using a lot of energy, what we tend to microwave often is frozen food, which is not as healthy as the fresh stuff, anyway. The TV you can definitely go without. The microwave? At least consider using it minimally.

Turn Them Off

Many people overlook this tip, mostly because they're not the ones paying the bill, but a lot of electricity can be spared while helping out the environment if you'd just take a couple of minutes at the end of the day to turn off your computer and any unnecessary lights that may be on around the building. Matter of fact, you might win "Employee of the Month" by suggesting to your supervisor or human resources advisor to invest in lights that automatically turn off after a certain period of time. It's a great way to reduce power consumption. If you can unplug a few things, that's even better!