Businesses can promote sustainability by using energy-saving lights, reducing waste, and buying eco-friendly products.
By Olivia Bolt November 17, 2023 14 Mins Read
Sustainability in the workplace is more crucial than ever, as organizations strive to reduce their environmental footprint while fostering a socially responsible and economically viable future. In this guide, we will be listing sustainability in the workplace ideas along with examples of companies that have implemented the same successfully.
Sustainability at work means doing things that help the Earth and save money. It’s about using less energy, making less trash, and we can even carpool to work. Let’s explore some great sustainability in the workplace ideas.
There are many benefits of LED lighting on the environment. LED lights are highly efficient, using 75% less energy and lasting 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Switching all office lighting to LEDs helps save on utility and maintenance costs. This switch is among the best sustainability ideas for businesses.
Office spaces often have empty rooms with lights on, wasting both money and energy. To stop this, consider installing motion sensors in your offices for energy efficiency and cost savings.
For a straightforward, cost-effective approach (though not always completely reliable), place signs near light switches to remind employees to turn off lights when leaving a room. Promoting energy-conscious habits is a straightforward and fundamental sustainable business practice, sometimes requiring just a gentle reminder.
Examples of environmentally sustainable work practices are all around the world. For instance, consider The Edge in Amsterdam, designed by OVG Real Estate, which incorporates sensor-equipped LED lights in its parking facility. These lights illuminate as you approach and dim when you depart.
If your office has windows, it’s an easy decision. Roughly 25% of US electricity goes into lighting offices. Save both the environment and money by opening the blinds and letting natural daylight brighten your workspace.
Phantom power is when devices use energy when they’re not being used, and it can make your office’s power bill and carbon footprint bigger.
You can stop phantom power in your office by getting programmable power strips. These strips automatically stop giving power to devices when they’re not being used, like during non-working hours or when employees are away.
In an office setting, enable power-saving or sleep mode on your devices. While modern devices typically optimize CPU performance and battery life automatically, activating these modes can help further conserve energy and reduce power usage when not in use. Additionally, you can explore your computer’s system preferences (or Control Panel on Windows) for energy-saving settings that promote a greener office environment.
In hot summers, people sometimes wear warm clothes at the office because it’s too chilly. Instead of making the office as cold as a fridge, try setting the air conditioner to 72 degrees. If it still feels comfortable, you can even raise it a bit more.
The warmer you keep the thermostat in summer, the more money and energy you’ll save in the end. It is one of the easiest sustainability ideas for businesses.
Window film is a technology that can cut down your office’s summer air conditioning use. This thin, clear film uses special materials to bounce sun heat away, keeping your office cool. It doesn’t block natural light or look bad. It’s also inexpensive and easy to use, making it an obvious hit among other sustainability in the workplace ideas.
Investing in renewable energy stands as a potent sustainable practice. It can significantly reduce your company’s carbon footprint, contingent on your region’s primary energy source.
Nevertheless, adopting renewable sources like solar, wind, or geothermal may entail substantial costs, and their effectiveness varies by location. Nonetheless, thanks to government incentives and the option to sell surplus energy to grids, the return on investment often surpasses expectations.
Alternatively, consider purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from your local energy provider. These certificates signify your use of clean grid power, sparing you the expense and effort of implementing green energy solutions. Additionally, a portion of REC costs supports local renewable energy infrastructure, contributing to a more sustainable future.
In the United Kingdom, numerous examples of environmentally sustainable work practices exist. For instance, the 7 More London Building utilizes rooftop solar panels to generate a substantial portion of the energy required to operate its offices, showcasing a tangible commitment to sustainability.
Choosing second-hand office equipment reduces landfill waste, eliminates the need for new production, and can save your business money. While not always suitable for rapidly depreciating or outdated items like computers, it’s a smart choice for durable, everyday items like desks and cabinets.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are chemicals often found in paints and home maintenance products. They evaporate into the air and can harm health when inhaled, causing headaches and more severe effects on organs. Most VOCs are odorless, making them hard to detect.
Opt for non-toxic, no-VOC paints to safeguard employee health and reduce air pollution in your office. This is how to make your office more sustainable.
Encouraging your cleaning company to use eco-friendly cleaning products can improve employee health, protect the environment, and won’t significantly impact costs. If your current company doesn’t offer these options, consider switching to one that does. After this, let’s also learn about some sustainability in the workplace ideas for water wastage.
Reducing your office’s water consumption aligns cost savings with sustainability. Install WaterSense faucets and toilets in bathrooms and rain-sensing sprinkler systems in outdoor green spaces. Though this requires an initial investment, the quick payback period becomes even shorter as water costs rise due to scarcity.
Surprisingly, fixing a leaky faucet or toilet can slash up to 10% off your monthly water bill.
If you’re hesitant about calling a plumber, here’s some perspective: a faucet that drips once per second can waste over 3,000 gallons of water annually. It’s time to make that call.
While you wait for repairs, place a container under the leaky faucet to collect excess water and use it to water office plants. Even offices like the Bank of America, New York use waste water and rain water. They set great examples of environmentally sustainable work practices.
Introducing plants into your office reduces air pollution and boosts employee mood and productivity. This simple and cost-effective practice can enhance long-term commitment and output. This is among the easiest sustainability in the workplace ideas.
Initiate an employee carpool program by gathering their location, work hours, and preferences through a survey, then help match them up.
To encourage walking, biking, or public transit, send emails about the cost of car commuting and the health benefits of active transportation. Share information on local transit options to further promote sustainable choices. This is how to make your office more sustainable.
Permitting employees to work from home, even just one day a week significantly reduces commute emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that many employees prefer flexible schedules, making this a popular choice. This is one practice offices should adopt along with other sustainability in the workplace ideas.
After COVID-19, it’s clear that much of our previously deemed essential business travel isn’t necessary. Video calls and virtual conferences are now popular and can replace many meetings, trade shows, and similar events. Unneeded trips drain resources, and employee time, and contribute significantly to a company’s carbon footprint. Save on costs and emissions by implementing an essential travel-only policy at your workplace.
By adopting a more flexible dress code, you can reduce energy expenses for office heating and cooling. Allowing men to wear shorts in summer and women to wear pants in winter lessens reliance on climate control.
A green and financial advantage of this shift is reduced dry-cleaning needs. Dry cleaning consumes water and employs chemical cleansers and dyes, making your office more eco-friendly by cutting down on it.
This change works well for internal staff rather than those attending formal meetings. The trend across various industries is moving towards more casual dress codes.
Traditional office break rooms often create significant waste, straining resources and employee environmental consciousness. Achieving zero-waste break rooms involves:
In this digital era, consider how much office paper is truly essential. Most documents can be emailed or stored digitally, making a paperless transition cost-effective and eco-friendly, curbing print expenses and deforestation.
However, some paper use remains vital for invoices, agendas, and crucial documents. Opt for paper products with recycled content rather than new paper to shrink your environmental impact. Recycled options are widely available and budget-friendly.
Extend your office’s recycling program beyond paper and plastics to include glass and metals. If your local area doesn’t offer recycling for these materials, contact waste management firms. They often weigh your recycling, simplifying the tracking and reporting of waste diverted from landfills to stakeholders. Apart from recycling also keep thinking about other go-green initiative ideas in the office.
Understanding digital pollution can be tricky because it’s an invisible yet real issue. Sending one email emits about 10g of CO2, and many emails go unopened in our inboxes (about 60%). Although reducing digital pollution may seem challenging, you can take simple steps and encourage your team to do the same. For instance, avoid unnecessary emails, unsubscribe from irrelevant newsletters, and promote eco-friendly search engines to minimize your digital footprint. Now, let’s see other go-green initiative ideas for the office.
Globally, the website hosting industry consumes a significant amount of electricity. Transitioning your company’s website to an eco-friendly web host is an environmentally conscious choice you might not have previously considered.
Devices quickly become obsolete in today’s fast-paced business world. Many end up forgotten or discarded, harming the environment due to toxic metals and exacerbating global inequality.
For fairly new, working gadgets, donating is ideal. Some NGOs refurbish and distribute them to people in need. For items they can’t accept, consider donating to a local thrift store.
For non-functional devices, recycle through local electronics recycling programs, widely available across North America. A quick online search will locate a nearby facility. This is an innovative idea among the other sustainability in the workplace ideas.
The adoption of eco-friendly office supplies is a step in the right direction for businesses committed to sustainability. By making conscious choices in office procurement, companies can reduce their environmental impact, cut costs in the long term, and create a healthier workspace for employees. Some examples of eco-friendly office supplies to consider include:
For offices, choose paper made from 100% recycled materials or non-wood sources. Ensure it has a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content for maximum eco-friendliness.
Look into alternatives like sugar cane paper, primarily composed of sugar cane fiber instead of trees. This choice contributes to tree preservation and sustainability, making it a valuable option for eco-friendly offices.
You can choose from a wide variety of environmentally friendly pens and pencils, including:
Certain brands make erasers from recycled rubber, which helps the environment. When you pick recycled office supplies, it means using things that were made before and then used again. This reduces the demand for new materials, which is good for the planet.
These innovative devices, introduced in recent years, function like hole punchers, stitching pages together using paper instead of metal staples. This eliminates the use of single-use metal staples that must be discarded.
These environmentally friendly packaging and sealing tapes are compostable, lightweight, and help reduce shipping expenses. Many offices utilize significant amounts of packaging materials daily, especially in their packaging departments. Transitioning to biodegradable tapes can significantly lessen environmental harm and shipping costs.
Throwing away non-biodegradable trash bags each week only contributes to a large waste issue. It’s environmentally sensible to use trash bags made from post-consumer recycled (PCR) material.
With these USB chargers, you can charge all your office’s USB devices with solar power. This cost-effective green change is something every office should adopt to save energy, especially for devices that stay plugged in when not in use. Apart from solar USB chargers, there are a lot of other solar products you can use for everyday life.
In most offices, paper towels are the go-to method for cleaning up spills of any kind. There are, however, many inexpensive, eco-friendly alternatives. Get yourself a stack of microfiber cleaning cloths to clean up those office spills. These clothes are reusable and can be washed and used again, reducing waste and helping the environment while keeping your office clean.
Purchasing new cartridges and discarding them when they run out of ink generates substantial landfill waste and adds unnecessary expenses to your company. By selecting remanufactured cartridges, you can enjoy savings ranging from 15% to 50% per order. Additionally, some companies offer a convenient service where they collect your used cartridges and deliver remanufactured ones for free, simplifying the transition to this sustainable choice.
To conclude, integrate environmentalism into your business strategy and share progress with your team through regular meetings and training. Clearly communicate your sustainability expectations to partners and suppliers for aligned values and contributions. To learn more about sustainable practices, keep coming back to our website.
Olivia is committed to green energy and works to help ensure our planet's long-term habitability. She takes part in environmental conservation by recycling and avoiding single-use plastic.
