Eco-Friendly Work Habits

Physical-Environment
Eco-Friendly Work Habits
Workplace

Like it or not, your office is taking a toll on the environment. Greenhouse gases are produced by the energy you use to power the office. More are released when vehicles are used to support your business. Furthermore, the paper you use (and possibly throw away) take their toll on the environment too.

The good news is that reducing your business’s environmental impact helps both the planet, and your profits. By taking action now, you will be seen as an innovative and concerned company, making you more competitive to customers, suppliers, stakeholders, and top employees. Teamwork will be enhanced, as your staff will work towards a common goal. Here’s how to get started:

Healthy office behavior


• Reduce paper use at the photocopier by making sure that all staff is trained on how to use it properly, and by keeping it in good order. Make use of double-sided copies, and the paper reduction features of your copier. Only make copies when necessary, and consider circulating single document documents, or use email, rather than making copies for everyone.

• Reduce paper usage by editing work on-screen, rather than using printed drafts. • Employ a "scrap paper" tray for your photocopier. Inform staff on how to use the clean side of documents that are no longer needed. They can be used for internal correspondence, draft copies, and fax transmission sheets. Scrap paper can also be cut into squares and stapled together to create memo pads.

• Recycle your fine paper. The most efficient means is to use a full service, property management employed, recycling programme. These programmes are better able to maximise the amount of paper that can be recycled. They will yield higher revenues from the paper, and will lower the cost of waste disposal. Furthermore, recycling will be less of a burden on the office, as the care of the materials is outsourced.

• Shut them down! Have all staff turn off energy consuming devices, such as desk lamps and computers, when they leave the office. Have a policy that the last one to leave the office should turn off common devices. Power bars can be used to shut down several items at once. Implement a policy that equipment that does not need to run all day is turned off after use. You can also install sensors that can detect not only movement, but also body heat, and can turn off lights when people are no longer in the office.

• Reduce lighting to less than 1 watt per square foot. Workplaces that are brighter than this threshold produce glare that can lead to decreased productivity. Excessive lighting also wastes energy!

• Does your office have blinds? Shut them at the end of the day to keep heat loss down in the winter, and to keep your office cool in the summer.

• Introduce a carpool to the office. Employees can determine who lives close to each other through a circulated map. Ask management to provide discounted parking for people who carpool.

• Encourage staff to walk, bike, or take public transit.

• Hold meetings via video-conference, rather than having staff travel unnecessarily.

• Whenever possible, use telephone, fax, and email, avoiding ‘snail mail’ and couriers. Bicycle courier services are a good alternative for mail that is not going too far.

• Purchase environmentally friendly office equipment. For ideas, click here.

• Participate in a carbon offset programme to compensate for any toll your office takes on the environment.