We should all be on the same page by now: we need to step up our efforts to care for the environment!
Experts seem to agree we have roughly 12 years to make a real dent in climate change.
What can we all do? Well, in addition to our personal lives at home, we should seriously consider sustainable office solutions.
Though there are a few stubborn holdouts that don’t seem to care about the research, most of us understand that in order to maintain a healthy environment for generations to come, we all need to do a better job caring for our one world, office settings included.
Here are some great ways to go green that’ll help make your office a more sustainable place.
Sustainable Office Solutions
No one can save the world on their own, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t each do our part to help the environment. Doing your part at your job is no exception. After all, we spend a huge amount of time there. Perhaps more than anywhere else.
So, we need to learn how to help the environment at work, too.
Also, it makes good business sense to care for the environment as the general public now wants to see that the companies they do business with are doing their part to help the environment. Often the greener thing to do is also the thing that can save money!
Here are ten solutions to implement right now.
1. Have a Meeting
We know no one really wants another meeting. But in order to go green at work, people have to actually discuss it, why it’s important, and what steps your company can take.
Who in your office already cares about these types of issues and is already taking steps to care for the environment?
Have that person lead the meeting.
In the meeting, make sure to clearly assign duties and roles. Perhaps even set up an environmental task force that will take responsibility for monitoring your office’s steps and track your progress.
Like anything else at work, there will be people who are supportive and those who are less so. But, at least find out who they are and see if there are ways to bring them on board. This works best if the motivation is coming from the bottom up, rather than from the CEO down.
Of course, a supportive CEO is helpful, too!
2. Turn Stuff Off
This is a good way to begin. Just turn your computer off when you leave! Turn all the electronics in your office off. It’s an easy step that saves energy, which is good for the budget and the environment.
In a rare win-win-win, it’s also good for your computer itself not to be on and idling all the time.
A guideline to turn off all lights and electronics might be all it takes. Otherwise, perhaps incentivize employees to turn off their electronics through a monthly prize or other office competition.
This is the basic level of going green, but you need to start somewhere.
3. Don’t Be Too Sensitive to Temperature
Humans are quite resilient. Don’t complain if you want the temperature a few degrees warmer in the winter or cooler in the summer.
Having the thermostat set on the outer edge of comfort can drastically cut your utility bill and impact on the environment.
Even setting your A/C at 75 instead of 74 can make a substantial difference if your building is large.
Also, environmentalists say to let a room cool all the way to about 55 degrees overnight (or when it’s not being used) in the winter. It’s a myth that the furnace has to work so hard to overcome the drop that it’s not worth it to set it lower overnight. It is!
It will save energy.
4. Install Motion Detectors
You can do all the reminding you want, people will still forget to turn off their office light when they leave. Obviously, it saves power and money to turn off lights when they’re not needed, so what can you do?
You can set up lights that turn off and on based on motion. This way, even the most forgetful (or non-compliant!) person won’t be using lights when they don’t need to.
Just make sure the motion detection is set to the proper level so the lights don’t turn off if you’re still working at your desk but not moving much!
Related to light usage, obviously use the most up-to-date light bulbs which are rated Energy Star. These use as low as 1/3 the energy as standard light bulbs.
Your mom was on to something all those years ago: turn off the lights when you leave!
5. Use Real Towels and Glasses
Paper towels are very easy… but also very wasteful. If the people at your work will tolerate, suggest switching to reusable towels and cloths.
They not only create less waste and use less energy, but they are a bit more classy.
In the same way, don’t succumb to the convenience of disposable cups and glasses. Stick to the real ones and wash them as you would as your home. Again, this takes a little bit more time but reduces your waste.
6. Clearly Mark Your Recycling Areas
First off, if your business doesn’t have recycling bins, get them!
Then, make sure it is very easy and clear to see what to do with all your waste. Put easy-to-read signs directly above each receptacle. Having pictures helps, too.
Everyone is smart enough to figure it out if they have the desire. But by putting the recycling in a prominent location and making the labels easy to read (or the pictures even easier to understand) it makes it more likely for people to use them properly.
7. Review Your Energy Sources
All of the above steps are fairly easy to take. From here on out, they get a little more involved. If you’re serious about how to help the environment at work, you really need to consider renewable energy sources.
Solar and wind energy are becoming more affordable and available every year. It’s likely you won’t be able to set up a wind turbine on the property. However, you can opt to source your energy through the regular grid, while choosing for it to come only from solar and wind.
Installing solar panels on the roof is another way to do it. Some bosses may not love the idea from an aesthetic standpoint, but it is worth considering.
The energy savings may just be enough to push reluctant leaders into going solar. There is typically a large initial investment, but after that, the bills will be very low, and you can often even sell excess power back into the municipal grid and make money.
There very well may be tax incentives depending on the state and city you work in.
Along with energy sources, the appliances and electronics you use can play a big role, too. Depending on your budget, consider getting new, energy-efficient refrigerators, computers, A/C units, and other electronics.
This isn’t a cheap suggestion, but it does make a difference as you are going green at work.
8. Reorganize Hazardous Materials Data
This is a fairly technical one, but very important to the environment.
If your deal with hazardous materials and is subject to the various federal agencies that monitor their usage, you’re familiar with the amount of paperwork and employee hours that go into proving compliance.
This isn’t for no reason; hazardous materials can wreak havoc on the environment if they’re not used and maintained properly. You can save time and energy by updating your system and using an alternative to spreadsheets that you used in the past.
Keep track of all the potentially harmful contaminants more easily with a modern, digitized system that has all your data scanned into one centralized online database that’s easier to use.
After all, going green does mean more than only saving energy and recycling– there are dangerous chemicals and other materials to consider!
9. Reconsider The Commute
Transportation to and from work is a huge contributor to global emissions. Driving your own car might be necessary in some areas for some people, but it is the least efficient way to get to work.
Try to encourage employees to ride together by setting up a carpooling system and offering some kind of incentive to use it.
To go a step further, encourage employees who live within a mile to walk or bike to work. You won’t see any direct monetary savings to the company, but you will help the environment in this way. Plus, indirectly, this may contribute to healthier employees who spend less on healthcare.
Finally, this may be the best time to consider making telecommuting an option. During the coronavirus pandemic, it has become clear that not only can many people do their work just fine from at home, many like it better and are more productive. This isn’t true for every single worker, but it’s a good idea to carefully evaluate the pros and cons.
Capitalize on this trend and allow employees to work from home if they reasonably can. This cuts out the transportation, which is good for the environment, and also cuts down dramatically on the amount of resources used at the office.
These ideas all apply to business travel, as well. Take a bus, bike, or walk if possible. Carpool if those aren’t options. Consider telecommuting to the meeting. The idea here is to be more conscientious of your travel, both your daily commute and business travel.
10. Office Waste and Recycling
A typical office wastes tons of materials during the course of a day, week, or month. Unless there is a person in charge of making office decisions about the supplies you’re using, it likely will remain that way.
Going back to the first tip, at your initial meeting, decide who will take responsibility for the office materials going green.
There are lots of specific ways to reduce environmental harm from office supplies.
You can order reused printer cartridges that have been cleaned out and refilled. This reduces the amount of plastic and other materials that have to be produced to meet the huge printing demand for office settings. (As a bonus idea, try to do more digitally– don’t print unless you really need to.)
You can buy and use refillable ink pens.
You can set up a system to save and reuse packaging materials. Instead of throwing out every cardboard box that gets delivered to your office, you can have your recycling point person set up a way to reuse them.
You can buy office condiments in bulk instead of buying individual units. This uses far less packaging.
All of these small actions add up to a real green impact on the environment. But it will likely require a person whose role it is to specifically make these changes and buy the right products for the office.
Go Green Today
As the world wakes up to the reality of climate change and environmental issues, don’t let your company fall behind.
Some things do take more time, planning, and effort. But your customers want to see you do it. Turn it into a competitive edge that makes people want to do business with you.
Sustainable office solutions are a big part of going green, whether it’s the easy things like turning off your computer when you’re not using it or the bigger investments like converting to renewable energy.
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