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How To Make Your Office More Sustainable

Fri, 29 Jul 2022
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As a business, we are always thinking of new ways we can be more eco-friendly, starting with creating a sustainable office environment. As one of our social impacts, we recognise that our business has an impact on the environment and work hard to minimise our carbon footprint.

We have meat-free Mondays, we recycle all possible waste, encourage the minimum use of plastics, and use local suppliers where possible (our IT and Phone companies are within 200 yards!). We have supplied all our team with reusable coffee cups and hessian bags and all electrical equipment is highly efficient.

Follow some simple tips to begin creating your own sustainable office!

Go Paperless

The benefits of going paperless far outweigh the cons, with the average office using 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year in the UK. Something as simple as switching to digital cloud storage, reusing paper where possible, keeping it double sided or switching to recycled paper in the office can help reduce paper consumption.

Un-Plug It

Computers that are set to standby can becom2 a large and unnecessary expense for your company. Setting your computers to an energy-efficient setting during the week evenings, and turning off all computers, printers/copiers, and other electronics that do not need to be left on can seriously help reduce energy usage.

Keeping computer equipment updated can also help with reducing energy consumption, current new computers and monitors are more energy efficient.

Use of Eco-Friendly Transportation

Encouraging employees to ditch the car or train for short distances for a bike or walking can seriously reduce their Co2 emissions, as well as improve their general wellbeing. Even if your team took to walking or cycling twice a week, this could potentially save as much as a quarter of personal carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transport.

Remote Working

Allowing employees to work from home, even if it’s one day a week, can result in major decreases in your company’s commute emissions. Plus, what most businesses have found through the COVID-19 pandemic is that many employees want a hybrid work schedule, so not only does it affect the well-being of your environment, but your employees too!

Sustainable alternatives to your everyday office supplies

Find products that are made from recycled products, such as paper and plastic products. Cut down or eliminate your use of products that have no green alternatives, such as rubber bands. A simple way to increase your sustainable impact is to just keep an eye on your supplies and don’t buy unless you really need them! This will also save on unnecessary expenses.

Finally, recycle all items you have no use for and properly dispose of waste like paper and printer toners as well as donate or sell furniture you no longer need.

If you have the three R’s in mind whilst at work, you’ll be sure to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle on a daily basis, and be sure check up on your local council‘s recycling policies.