Kudos to everyone who is making personal lifestyle changes for a more sustainable world. But is there more we can do in the workplace? Because when it comes to sustainability efforts, it all adds up, and collectively, we can achieve a lot more.
As some offices are transitioning to a hybrid set up, let’s use this reset as an opportunity to sustainably improve our companies and teams at work. Here are some bite-sized initiatives and climate-conscious behaviours to help you get started.
1) Setting some *green* goals
Decide what you want to accomplish before. Even if it might seem apparent, think about it beforehand and discuss it with the people you work with. Although there are numerous reasons to create strong sustainability objectives, one of them should be to achieve the global sustainability targets required to battle climate change, preventing global warming from rising beyond 2°C and working to keep it below 1.5°C and phasing out fossil fuels and transitioning to renewable energy.
2) Start a green team
A green team is a small group of internal advocates who can have a powerful impact on the organisation. This group will educate, create awareness, and drive action. These groups are great for empowering employees, instilling a sense of ownership, and inculcating a sustainability-first mindset. Don’t forget, this should be fun, not an additional burden.
Green teams are self-organised, cross-functional groups of workers who work together voluntarily to inform, encourage, and motivate employees about sustainability. They implement solutions to assist their organisation in working in a more environmentally friendly manner by choosing greener options.
Often they start by concentrating on greening office operations, recycling electronics, using double-sided printing defaults, turning off computers at the end of the day, composting food waste, reducing the use of disposable takeout containers, and minimising the use of plastic water bottles. They can also coordinate office carpooling by connecting employees who live in the same neighbourhood or encouraging teams to take public transport instead of driving or taking taxis.
And those who take it further can host or sponsor sustainability events, like an eco marketplace for Earth Day, screenings of environmental movie screenings, getting experts in to do talks, and so on.
3) Bid bye bye to single-use plastics in the pantry
When it’s not there, it will not be used. Simple as that. Make plastic straws, cups, plates, cutlery, etc. a thing of the past. Nobody actually likes to eat from plastic; it’s just a routine we must change one office lunch at a time.
You can even apply a small fine on the use of single-use plastics, similar to a swear jar; for each piece of single-use plastic the team brings into the office, they have to donate $1 as a penalty to the plastic jar. At the end of the quarter (or the year), the money raised could be donated to a good cause (like Seven Clean Seas for keeping plastic out of our oceans) or used to fund a team lunch or another enjoyable team activity. However, some might just take it as an opportunity to “buy” single-use items for a dollar. This is the time to use creativity in making sure your team doesn’t look over it, one is by actively raising awareness on why we should all bid goodbye to single-use plastics.
4) Grow something together
Purchase a hydroponics system and do a little farming together. Getting closer to the food we grow and consume makes people appreciate it more. Growing your own also reduces food waste over time. You may even consider donating it to make someone in need happy.
Aside from the environmental benefits of plants, scientific research indicates a significant link between personal well-being and greenery: it decreases tension, makes people happy and less brooding, relieves attention fatigue, promotes a positive mood, and improves creativity. All of these benefits contribute to improved performance and more energy.
Also, did you know that workplaces without any decorations are regarded as “the most toxic” environments for people? According to Exeter University, adding houseplants to the workplace improves employee performance. In fact, after researching this idea for ten years, the team came to the conclusion that having plants and other decorations around increases productivity by 15%
5) Reduce your waste (easier said than done!)
No matter the industry or company size, every firm will generate a different volume of waste. It matters how they reduce their output, whether it is cardboard, plastic, or even electronic goods.
Paper is one example of a basic solution. You may start by recycling all of the paper you no longer need if you work in an office where you probably use a lot of paper. Digitising is also one of the easier solutions in controlling paper consumption. It’s occasionally required to print. Encourage staff to utilise the “Print Selection” tool, which encourages them to just print what they need and saves wasted sheets of paper, and urge them to change their defaults to print double-sided to save up to 50% on paper expenditures.
Another way is to set up a centralised recycling area/bins. When individuals sort their own trash, they are more conscious of what they are discarding as opposed to simply tossing it in the handy container beneath their desk. People are more likely to dispose of the garbage in the appropriate stream, preventing stream contamination, as they become aware of what can and cannot be recycled or composted from the images on the central recycling bins.
Only 6.3 percent of the estimated 41 million tonnes of food waste that were produced in 2017 were diverted from landfills and incinerators for composting, according to the EPA. Having a compost bin next to the sink in the pantry or break room is also another great way that your organisation can reduce its organic waste.
6) Establish a daily Earth Hour
Go beyond the annual event by dedicating an hour every day. Switch off the main office lights during the lunch hour, for example, as an overt daily reminder that every little action helps. You may get some pushback at first, but trust us, this works. Small symbolic actions have a big impact in terms of awareness.
You could go further and plan an Earth Day celebration for your colleagues. That could be a pop-up mini marketplace of local social enterprises, an office clothes swap, or an electronics recycling drive—there are so many options.