12 Quick and Easy Ways to a Much Greener Office
The issues of sustainability and eco-friendly workplaces are at the forefront of a cleaner tomorrow. Most of us spend the majority of our waking hours at work. Therefore your office and work environment can be the shining example you want to see in the world. There are many easy ways to a much greener office, such as transportation alternatives, encouraging recycling, and low-power electrical devices.
Implementing all the below examples is easy in theory. Yet, some people may need a little nudge to change their habits. Yet with time and patience, your employees will work together to reduce your carbon footprint dramatically.
Low Power Computing
Suppose you employ a large team working to generate high-profile sustainability blogs with robust SEO services . In that case, you need to use computers and laptops. Unfortunately, many of these are power-hungry energy hogs. Yet you can install low-power PCs such as Fit-PC Slim, Aleutia E2, and Advent Eco PC. These slimmer and less intensive devices are compact, produce less noise, and require minimal power amounts of between 6 and 50 watts.
Waste Sorting
Landfills are burdened by mixed trash and recyclable materials that otherwise could have gone somewhere else. Conversely, receiving centers get inundated with trash they cannot process. You can help with this issue by implementing a presorting trash system in the office. This way, food garbage, recyclable materials, and garbage are ready for correct distribution where they need to go. Bins are cheap and readily available, and you need to enforce usage policies.
The Paperless Office
Bill Gates’ dream of the paperless office hasn’t quite arrived. Yet, there are some things you can easily do to reduce your usage of paper significantly. First, if something doesn’t need to be printed, then don’t print it. For example, a memo can just as quickly be emailed to whom it concerns rather than sending each person a printed letter. It’s also easy to collaborate on documents electronically using apps like Flock, Stack, and Microsoft Teams.
Car Pooling
There are just too many cars on the road. Personal vehicles account for the vast majority, and encouraging carpooling will help reduce everyone’s carbon footprint. Of course, not everyone likes this idea, yet you could incentivize people to take part. Perhaps organic gift vouchers, cash bonuses, or small gifts or recognition. Some may not like it at first, but it’s also a great way to promote interoffice socializing among employees and coworkers.
Electric Vehicles
Although EVs come with a manufacturing carbon footprint, once you have purchased one, the carbon footprint is much lower than using a standard gas vehicle. This is mainly offset because an EV has zero emissions while in use and is potentially the answer to the road congestion and smog pollution problem. Although charging your electric vehicle does have a carbon footprint attached if your energy supplier uses fossil fuels.
Cycling and Walking
The minor polluting modes of transportation are cycling and walking. These have a zero carbon footprint, and both are incredibly healthy. But, unfortunately, it isn’t viable for everyone to cycle or walk to work. Some employees might live too far away, and some may have medical issues. Yet, for those who are able, you should heavily encourage sustainable practices like these as an excellent way to reduce an individual’s carbon footprint concerning their work.
Public Transport
For those too far to walk or cycle, and where there is no carpooling available, public transport like buses and trains are an excellent option. Most trains use electricity to move, and almost every bus company is electrifying their vehicles. This means that although there are many uses on the roads, most of them are non-polluting. In addition, buses are much more comfortable than they used to be, so no excuses for a bumpy ride.
Encourage Reusables
Manufacturing and service companies all over the world are making the shift towards ditching single-use plastics. Reusable items are the current hot topic, and these should be encouraged at work. Coffee cups and water bottles are easiest to encourage as they are cheap and everyone needs them. Even Costa Coffee and Starbucks sell reusable coffee cups, while Bevi’s bottle-less water coolers reduce plastic bottle waste.
Renovate with Low Power Electrics
Like computers, you can replace many things throughout the office with low-power versions. Lighting is one of the worst culprits for using energy, not least because people tend to leave them on when not in use. However, LED lights last longer, emit no heat, and use up to 90% less energy. They are vastly more efficient than traditional incandescent or fluorescent lighting solutions commonly found in office buildings.
Reduce Phantom Power
In addition to low-power PCs and LED lighting, you can reduce power consumption more with intelligent power sockets. When a device is left in and switched off, it can still draw power from an outlet. This is known as phantom power . Smart power extensions detect which resources do this and completely shut them off so they don’t continually use power when they shouldn’t. This means you won’t have to manually unplug all devices when you go home for the weekend.
Make Use of Natural Light and Heat
Get rid of the blinds where they aren’t needed and let the sunshine in. Blinds and curtains will block sunlight, which is a shame since more sunlight means switching off the lights and possibly the heating. Sunlight lets in much light, and you can use this to your advantage during the day. But depending on the type of glass your windows are made from, you can also get much heat from sunlight, even in the winter.
Educate About Sustainability
Finally, none of these efforts are worth it if no one will implement them or follow advice. Of course, not everyone will become an eco-warrior. However, by making just a few of these changes, the collective efforts of everyone combined will contribute significantly to reducing your company’s carbon footprint. It would also be helpful to set up a green team. This team can enforce and analyze green policies and come up with new ideas for a greener workplace.
