2020 is the year sustainability will go mainstream. There is an increasing amount of pressure on businesses to introduce more eco-friendly measures to help reduce their impact on the planet.
Thankfully, it’s never been easier to go “green” in the workplace. Here are some ideas to make your office eco-friendly right now.
Swap Out Your Inefficient Appliances
If you’re still rocking a printer from 1998 and lighting fixtures that date back befoe some of your youngest employees’ birthdays, it might be time to upgrade. It’s likely those appliances are incredibly inefficient wasting precious energy and your money.
Energy-Star rated appliances are a great start for any business that needs to upgrade some of their office appliances. Lighting is often the chief cause of inefficiency in an office and making the transition to ultra-efficient LED lighting is now affordable and relatively hassle-free.
Go Zero-Waste
The zero-waste movement is now in full effect with many people and businesses actively avoiding single-use plastic, adopting recycling programs, and reusing old materials where possible.
If you’re not yet recycling paper and packaging from your office it’s time to start. Single0use plastic is easy to avoid simply by purchasing zero-waste replacements such as cutlery made from steel, providing reusable cups like those from Polar Camel, and limiting any packaging your business sends to clients/customers.
Incentivizing Eco-friendly Behaviour
It’s not always easy to get your employees on board with your new eco-friendly protocol. To help, try to incentivize employees to take part. Reward those who cycle to work or those heading up the recycling process.
You can even create a competition based on which department is efficient and waste-free. Going “green” in the office doesn’t have to be a boring process. Make it fun and try to get everyone involved for better results.
Create an Energy Efficiency Protocol
Simple measures such as turning off your computer, switching off lights, and turning off the heating goes a long way to making your office more energy efficient.
Simply telling employees to do these things might not be enough. Combined with your green competitions you could also set out rules for energy-efficient measures you would like to see put in action.
Create a sustainability team to draw up the new protocol, set up a meeting with all employees and discuss why you want to make these changes. Failure to properly inform employees of your desires may result in a quick failure of your new eco-friendly rules.
Embrace Renewable Technology
Are you still paying for your electricity? Solar PV can help your business to go off-grid and start harnessing the free energy of the sun. Initial costs can vary depending on your particular application but most solar PV systems deliver an ROI in just 5-7 years. This means you have at least 18 years of free electricity thereafter.
Other forms of renewable energy you might want to consider is solar thermal if your business depends on lots of hot water or biomass energy is your in need of heat.
