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Many of us are now trying to be more environmentally friendly in our homes and make some little changes to help protect our planet, like reducing the use of single-use plastics that wash up in our oceans and harm the wildlife there. But what about in the workplace? Making some changes in offices can make a huge difference, without them having a big impact on productivity, and even creating a healthier environment to work in.
Simple things like separating the recycling and cutting down on the paper used, or turning off a light as you leave the room may seem like a minor thing, but small steps like these in offices can have big impacts on waste reduction and protecting our planet.
A recent survey carried out by Seareach aimed to find out what makes your office green and which elements play an important part towards an improved workspace.
They found that storing your work digitally is the way forward towards making your office green and healthier for the environment, with 20% of offices going paperless, making a significant effort to reduce their impact on the environment.
Go paperless – Scan and archive paperwork to help to move completely digital. The more you can store digitally and the less paper you use, the more you will transform your office into becoming green.
Label recycling waste bins – Clearly labelling your waste bins will help and encourage staff to recycle. With clear and concise instructions, it makes it easier for employees to follow.
Solar panels for electricity – Enable you to have lighting and run lower power appliances. The photovoltaic cells use the sun’s energy to provide a green renewable energy source.
Installing LED bulbs – The energy consumption of LED lights can be up to a 75% saving, compared to halogen bulbs. This results in much less energy required and is a cost-effective effort towards your office running costs.
Green heating – The cheapest source for heating and is very efficient. Easy & cheap to install and performs well.
Reusable water bottle(s) – Bring in your own water bottle that can be refilled at work. From this, you’ll reduce the number of discarded plastic bottles.
Bike facilities – Providing a bike rack can encourage employees to cycle to work, cutting down pollution and helping with general health and fitness.
Electric car charging points – Electric cars provide more energy efficiency up to 85-90%, over ICE (Internal Combustion Engines). These are overall much greener and don’t require expensive fossil fuels in order to operate.
Motion-detection lights – Having these all-around communal areas helps improves energy efficiency. These can be ideal in seldom used rooms or shared rooms, such as small meeting rooms. This will save energy if people are in and out and often forget to turn off lights.
Plants and natural light – Having plants in your office will aesthetically soften the work areas with boring colours and can help oxygenate the office.
As you can see from this list, there are lots of ways we can all help the environment, many of them very simple changes to make. It’s easy to feel like it is not our responsibility when we are at work, but by doing our own little bit every day, we can all do our part towards creating a healthier environment, whilst reducing the number of waste that we generate and recycling more. If all offices were to make some of these small changes then the impact it would make on the environment could be huge, and could even save the business money too.
Do you have any suggestions on how we can be more environmentally friendly at work? Share your tips in the comments below!
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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