Whether you’re setting up your own business premises or just working from home, making your office greener is way easier than you think. The reason for this is simple: many of the biggest companies in the world want to move to sustainable operating models. They don’t want CO2-emitting premises to hamper their brand image. In this post, we take a look at some of the ways that you can make your office greener.
1. Turn Going Green Into A Friendly Competition
Going green can be something that you direct from on high. But you’re likely to have more of an impact if you turn it into a friendly competition.
The idea is simple. Give everyone in your office, including yourself, challenges such as avoiding eating with plastic utensils, buying any plastic bottles or creating the least waste possible for the month. Then hand out prizes to the department or individual who generates the least amount of waste.
2. Choose Sustainable Office Products
You can also explore the idea of using more sustainable office products. For instance, instead of relying on energy-consuming old-style servers, upgrade the components inside them to use less electricity. New CPUs, for instance, are now able to process the same amount of information at the fraction of the energy cost of old CPUs.
Taking this further, you can upgrade your office hardware so that it lasts longer. For instance, maintenance of a lift helps keep it in working order, negating the need for replacement (which is costly in terms of CO2). You might also choose fittings and fixtures made of sustainable materials or that won’t require replacement for the lifetime of the building.
3. Use More Renewable Energy
You don’t have to power your office using conventional grid electricity any more if you don’t want to. Instead, you can now benefit from an array of green power sources. Rooftop solar is the obvious example, something that multiple brands are now experimenting with. You can also hook your electricity supply up to providers who offer wind power in their energy mix. Shop around for plans and see what’s available in your area. Green electricity plans are common and competitively priced.
4. Use Less Paper
It might sound obvious, but using less paper is one of the best ways to help your office go great. According to statistics from Adobe, printed documents account for around 90 percent of all US office waste. Furthermore, paperwork takes up around 10 percent of all the space in company inventories.
To avoid this, use digital storage instead. It’s cheaper and has far less impact on the environment.
5. Add More Desk Plants
You don’t have to construct a “living wall” in your offices to make them greener. However, it is nice to bring in some plants. They help to improve the air quality and can even boost morale. Plants produce more oxygen and can even absorb dangerous outgassing from new office products.
Making your office more sustainable is easy. Just one of the ideas listed above can have a profound effect on your environmental impact.
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