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The green team’s focus for the coming year must be on promoting workplace sustainability. Today, we’ll look at some fresh and innovative approaches you may take to make your workplace greener than ever before via an office fit-out.
According to the research, greener workplaces tend to have healthier, more productive staff members with the surge in acceptance of green building regulations and certifications, the ecosystem benefits when your organization makes a serious effort to use sustainable practices in the office.
In addition to the obvious financial gains from reducing waste and other environmental impacts, employees also desire to work in a more environmentally friendly workplace. According to a recent poll conducted by Next Energy Technologies, eighty percent of business leaders would increase environmentally friendly workplace practices if it meant keeping their current staff.
Here are some ideas to help you integrate sustainability into the office.
Try to use less water and power.
Reduce your reliance on artificial lighting by maximizing natural light, and consider going solar with a water heater and a rainwater storage tank. Determine which of your office’s appliances absolutely must be on all night.
Sleep mode saves more energy than leaving a device on, yet it is still wasteful to leave a gadget in standby mode. If your workstations are networked, you may command them to power off at night. This is a fantastic solution to the problem of employees just locking their computers and leaving for the day. Alternatively, you may mandate that all devices be powered down before employees depart for the day.
Additionally, you should randomly inspect your workplace to check for things like dripping sinks, tubs, and showers. Put money into aerators to cut down on water waste.
Minimize wasteful paper usage.
One resource that is frequently misused is paper. Most recent figures reveal that in 2018-2019, Australians produced 76 million tonnes of garbage, a 10% rise from 2016-17. Approximately six million metric tons of this is paper and cardboard that was never used.
But in this electronic world, how much paper is truly necessary?
Every workplace has significant potential for reducing its paper consumption. Or at least make sure they are printed on recycled paper.
Unless necessary, have your workers print on both sides of the paper. A “clean, green” phrase under email signatures might further encourage employees to reconsider their print habits. If there is a lot of wasted paper from unsuccessful print jobs (especially single-sided tasks), have a container next to the printer to collect it and urge your employees to use it for notetaking or ideation.
Alternatively, you might install card readers on your printers to keep employees accountable and cut down on unclaimed prints, reducing your company’s printing rate.
Another green workplace concept that helps reduce paper usage is providing employees with electronic tools like whiteboards and laptops. Paper towels are unnecessary since people may use hand dryers or tea towels.
Choose environmentally friendly products.
Evaluate what you’ll need to keep your firm running well. Are there environmentally friendly options? Consider your suppliers’ track records in environmental protection as well. Do their products, for instance, use recyclable materials and have a low ecological footprint? Do the people who clean your building use products that are safe for the environment?
But what about your packaging? If your company also engages in retail sales, consider offering products in recyclable or reusable containers. Environmentally conscious shoppers would also appreciate this.
Eliminate needless trips taken by employees.
Think about what you can do about non-office work-related obligations. Can folks from out of town be included in meetings through video call rather than having to travel in? One of the great advantages of today’s technology is that it enables individuals to get their jobs done whenever and wherever they like.
After the end of the pandemic, most companies plan to continue allowing workers to work remotely for at least part of the week, according to the available data. Most employees would welcome the increased freedom this affords them. To add, they may lessen their weekly impact with even one day of car-free commuting.
To further lessen the environmental effect of your business, consider placing it near public transportation and providing employees with amenities at their destination (such as bike racks and showers).
Involve the team.
Getting people on board is a terrific method to promote change. Sustainability may be visible (whiteboards are perfect for this), actionable, and enjoyable through green challenges (such as challenging employees to go plastic-free). You can foster teamwork through them as well. You may also form a “Sustainability team” to advocate for the changes and help execute the new ideas.
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