Business Owners: Cultivate a Thriving Green Culture by Boosting Employee Morale

Julie Starr • Oct 12, 2021

Behind every fruitful sustainability program is a team of dedicated and hardworking individuals, usually referred to as green teams. The notion of sustainability is motivated by joint passion and teamwork, making the green movement meaningful. And because green teams are not machines, they are likely to face issues like low morale and fatigue that come with following their determined, tiresome long-term projects, particularly those involved in subjects like sustainability.

The following are strategies for cultivating a thriving green culture by boosting employee morale and maintaining sustainability.

Alleviate Workload Stress

Whether you have one person serving you or an entire green team, it is vital not to overload them with projects and tasks. This is true especially for businesses new to sustainability, where pursuing a sustainability program and keeping green teams can be challenging.

Therefore, you can consider using an unsecured business loan to upgrade your business technology and equipment to make project completion very organized. Furthermore, improving project organization and reducing the levels of stress in your workers, using technology increases connectivity and allows your team to collaborate and exchange information effortlessly.

Recognize your Employees

Make sure to send updates to your business to recognize and celebrate personal milestones, new hires, create an employee spotlight and allow workers to nominate their peers for a prize. You can also have the employees comment and like the updates to motivate extra engagement.

There are numerous ways to recognize employees; for instance, you can have a sustainability leader of the month part in your newsletter to make special announcements during meeting time. Besides, you can consistently offer gift baskets and certificates or brand-new gadgets.

Cultivate Interpersonal Relationships

A robust interpersonal relationship between your workers can make a pleasant workplace and result in better satisfaction and improved engagement. That is why you must focus on offering a positive work environment that motivates everyone to interact and have an open line of communication.

Consider establishing a lounge area to motivate your workers to socialize and get to know each other more. You can also organize team-building activities and corporation picnics. Once you have established a more robust team within your company, you will create a powerful support system between your workers and eventually strengthen your company’s culture.

Redecorate your Workplace

Does your office have a monochromatic tone and is dimly lit? These are some things that can significantly affect employee morale, collaboration, creativity, communication, and productivity. Light and color can provoke particular reactions. Therefore, for your workspace, consider having a balance of warm and cool tones.

Cool tones tend to have a relaxing effect; however, ensure that you incorporate warmer shades through accent walls and office fixtures to ensure that the office is not too icy.

Add Sustainability

Going green will not only benefit the planet but can also help you save on the cost of operating your business. And some of the common unsustainable practices in workplaces today are food wastes, irrelevant color printing, and styrofoam cups, all of which are very easy to change if you want to promote a sustainable work environment.

Bottom Line

This might be the perfect time to change your company’s culture by incorporating the above tips. It is also vital to note that there is no finish line when it comes to sustainability in a business. So as your company grows and evolves, you need to keep looking for ways to keep it sustainable. You can do that by offering sustainability incentives , alleviate workload stress, recognize employees and foster interpersonal relationships.

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Simple Steps To Make Your Office Space More Eco-Friendly

By Julie Starr • 07 Oct, 2024

Becoming more eco-friendly and running a greener business is a responsibility that business owners really need to think more about. The good news is that if you spend a lot of time in your office, there are plenty of ways to make it more eco-friendly without having to overhaul everything and start again (which isn’t just disruptive, but expensive too). So, if you’re ready to get started, here are some simple steps to make your office space more eco-friendly; read on to find out more. Use Energy-Efficient Lighting This idea is a simple one that you can do no matter what else might be on your list of tasks - it’s quick, easy, and really makes a difference; change your light bulbs to something more energy efficient. If you’re still using traditional fluorescent bulbs, it’s time to upgrade to LED which doesn’t just last longer, but also uses a lot less energy. They’re easy to install and they’ll help you cut down on your office’s energy usage almost instantly. If possible, you should make the most of natural light too, so think about rearranging your workspace to let in more sunlight, which saves energy and can boost your mood - it’s a win-win that you can do right away. Prioritize Air Quality The air you breathe matters, and keeping it clean can do wonders for your health and the planet. One way to improve air quality is by adding plants to your workspace because plants are natural air purifiers, and as a bonus, they’ll make your office feel more inviting. Another great idea is to make sure your office’s HVAC system is working efficiently, and having air duct cleaning done by professionals is an easy step you can take to improve air quality and ensure your heating and cooling systems aren’t wasting energy. Clean air ducts mean cleaner air, less strain on your system, and even lower energy bills, so it’s a simple but really effective thing to do. Switch To Reusable Products If your office is still stocking up on single-use plastic items, it’s time for a change - swap your disposable cups, utensils, and plates for reusable ones and you’ll be surprised at how much waste to eliminate. And what about encouraging people to bring their own mugs and water bottles to work? Give them tea, coffee, and water to refill everything with, and you’ll be doing your bit to help the planet and have less waste to deal with as well. And don’t stop with these things either - there are loads of reusable products that could be useful in your office. You could have refillable pens and ink cartridges for your printer, for example. Go Paperless Speaking of your printer, is that an office machine you actually need? If you were to go digital and aim for a paperless office , you might be able to do away with the printer, which means less money spent on ink and paper, and less energy used altogether. You should be able to set up a system where documents can be shared online and stored electronically, and there are plenty of tools around to help you do exactly that (and much more). If you don’t need to print something and you don’t need a physical copy of a document, don’t make one - just use the digital version instead and you’ll be a lot more eco-friendly.

3 Most Unsustainable Industries & What They're Doing To Be More Eco-Conscious

By Julie Starr • 04 Oct, 2024

Sustainability often gets pushed on the common person. Joe Public is told to be more sustainable with their daily habits as the government pushes for more eco-friendly measures. This is all well and good - but does it really matter when 71% of greenhouse gas emissions come from just 100 companies around the world? Small business owners are desperate to prove their sustainability, but what are bigger companies in some of the most polluting industries doing to help? We’ve taken three of the least sustainable sectors on the planet and explored the unique ways they’re trying to cut down on emissions and be more eco-friendly. Mining Any industry revolving around drilling underground will not be very environmentally friendly! Mining causes a lot of pollution, but its unsustainability often comes from the way it damages local environments and ecosystems. So, what is this industry doing to change things? It’s largely focusing on more responsible mining practices to reduce waste and mitigate the impact on local environments. This is done through mining dust suppression systems to prevent airborne pollution, reforesting mining sites when they’re no longer in use, and recycling as many materials as possible. Is it perfect? No, but it’s a step in the right direction. Fossil Fuels Shock horror; the fossil fuels industry is the most damaging to our environment. Finding ways to change the scope of this sector is the key to ensuring a better future for all. Some companies in this industry are trying to do this through carbon capture and storage. This is a technique where CO2 emissions are captured before they’re released into the atmosphere and stored underground. Realistically, the main thing fossil fuel companies should be doing is pushing for more renewable energy sources. Many are doing this - though reports suggest they’re not investing as much as they should. If fossil fuel companies dumped more money into developing biofuels and other renewable sources, pollution from this industry would drop dramatically. Fashion The most unbelievable stat to take from this post is that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of our global carbon footprint . That’s remarkable (and worrying), considering how most of us don’t view it as a “dangerous” industry. Fast fashion is the main problem; poorly-made goods are pumped out at a rapid rate, and consumers constantly buy new things. Fashion companies are trying their best to resolve this. Most big brands will now have sustainable lines using recyclable materials. Consumers also hold the key to solving this problem: stop buying new clothes all the time and wear yours for longer. Or buy pre-owned clothes to slow down the fashion production line. Companies can still do more as well: they are trying to adopt more eco-friendly production processes that use less water and energy. The moral of this post is that everyone can do their bit to fight for a more sustainable future. Keep this in mind for your small business . It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; there will always be ways to promote eco-friendly practices.