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Every business has a different level of impact on the planet. As a whole, though, we all contribute to pollution, climate change, and waste crisis. Even if you think that your environmental impact is inconsequential, your consumers might not see it that way.
So, regardless of the size, every business needs to do everything possible to achieve eco-friendly offices. The aim here is not only to appeal to consumers’ sentiments but to take responsibility for how we ought to preserve our planet.
This article shares some tips on how you can make eco-friendly workplaces.
1. Save Water
Saving water is a significant step to having an eco-friendly workplace.
If your office has a kitchen or pantry, you can invest in a dishwasher. Dishwashers are known to be more water efficient than hand-washing. It allows you to wash your employees’ dirty dishes in one go, instead of having individual employees washing them by hand.
Your office’s bathroom probably uses the most water. If possible, consider installing low-flow toilets. Likewise, check faucets for leaks and have them fixed promptly. You can also install faucet aerators, which help create more misty spray and use less water than traditional faucets.
Another way to save water in the office is to collect rainwater. To do this, you can install a rainwater diverter. It connects the roof drainage system of your office building to a rain barrel water or storage tank to divert and store rainwater for use at a later time.
You can use the water for watering office plants or your commercial property lawn. You can even use it to flush your toilets.
2. Reduce Energy Usage
Did you know that energy use is the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions at 73.2%? Commercial buildings take 6.6% of that energy-related emission.
Although it may seem small, the average business energy usage is between 15,000 and 25,000 kWh per year, which still has a significant impact on the environment. To avoid wasting power in your workplace, you can try some of these solutions:
- Maximize natural light in your business premises. Not only can it help in reducing energy usage, but it is also better for your employees’ health and well-being.
- Use motion-sensitive lights for areas where natural light is not possible. This helps save energy by only turning it on when needed and automatically turns off if no one’s around.
- Open your office’s windows to naturally cool your business if the weather’s not too hot. Just as with natural light, fresh air can improve health and well-being.
- Plants can also contribute to cooling your office space. Plus, they help ventilate your workplace. Some plants can even help boost employee focus.
3. Go Paperless
Most businesses are still primarily dependent on paper. Statistics show that the average US office worker uses about 10,000 sheets of paper every year. To meet that number, a 45-foot pine tree is cut down.
The US chops down about 68 million trees every year to produce paper products. At the same time, about 1 billion trees’ worth of paper is thrown away every year.
With an impact as significant as this, don’t you think it’s time to shift to a paperless workplace?
A paperless workplace doesn’t mean being completely paper-free. It means using minimal paper and primarily opting for digital documents. Additionally, relying on paper documents can cause significant issues for your business, such as misplaced or accidentally destroyed files. To avoid these problems, document scanning services are your best choice. This digital document management system will revolutionize how your company handles files safely and securely.
Nowadays, you can go paperless with your digital invoices and bills. Encourage employees to use note-taking apps and digital documents, too. This helps reduce your business’s environmental impact and ensures faster and more effective processes and collaboration between team members and clients, ultimately increasing workplace productivity.
4. The 3 Rs
The 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) has never been more important than in today’s world. Businesses should thrive to reduce waste and usage where they can. For instance, instead of using disposable plates, cups, and utensils in the pantry, you can encourage your employees to bring their dinnerware and cutlery or provide them glass or ceramic alternatives that they can wash after use.
Moreover, encourage reusing items whenever possible. Thus, instead of throwing out structurally intact boxes of your office supplies, you can use them for the storage of other items. You can also donate these items to be reused or recycled. After all, entrepreneurs are expected to alleviate climate change at all costs.
Takeaway
Being mindful of how you leave a mark in this world is no longer a fad. An eco-friendly way of living can now be practised wherever you are, so make sure to belong to those who choose to care for rather than destroy the planet.
Although there are several ways for your workplace to adopt sustainable and eco-friendly practices like the ones mentioned here, it’s more critical that you start now. Take these steps to slowly work your way toward an eco-friendly workplace where each does his share to make this world better and safer for the future generation.
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