Many companies find it difficult to incorporate environmental improvements into an office on a day to day basis. However, it is possible to implement a few tips and tricks to make the office space a greener more sustainable and profitable place.
1 Make it Official
An environmental policy for the company can create a sense of responsibility from the ground up. An Environmental Policy Statement is a document that sets out a company’s commitment to identifying and managing its environmental impacts in the best possible way. The statement can include daily objectives, long term goals and sustainability aims.
2 Appoint the right people
Creating a team or choosing a person to be responsible for the implementation of the environmental policy gives a sense of accountability to the company. This helps identify areas in the business where savings can be made by addressing resource loss and indicates any issues arising regarding environmental regulations, e.g. waste practices such as disposing of chemicals or toners in general waste.
3 Training
A program should be set up within the company which trains the staff about the importance of environmentally sustainable practices. An external training company can offer accreditation to the staff that complete the training. This can encourage the employees to feel pride in an environmentally friendly office.
4 Energy
Energy efficiency should be an area of major focus as it has the most potential to generate the most savings for the company. By reducing the carbon footprint, a company can reduce its overall utility bills. Where possible keep records of changes made in the workplace, for example reducing use of air conditioning and switching off lights in unused rooms. As time goes on the savings will become more visible and rewarding.
5 Waste
The three words that come to mind when discussing waste are reduce, reuse and recycle. Make sure that you have a waste management company that is licensed to recycle all the waste materials generated by your company. Another tip is to explore packaging take back opportunities with suppliers.
6 Water
One vital way to reduce the amount of water being used by the company is to carefully monitor water usage. Identify and fix any leaks and curtail unnecessary usage. If needed replace equipment with water efficient alternative, such as low flush toilets, low flow taps etc.
7 Digital Commuting
According to the Carbon Trust working from home can help businesses cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint. By increasing the number of staff where possible to work from home it can help reduce cost for employers in the UK by up to $3 billion a year. This can also save over 3 million tonnes of carbon year.
1Time Tracking
1Time Tracking can help to create a green office. Project savings from environmentally friendly practices, create project tasks to stay on track of the environmental policy. Communicate through desktop or mobile when working from home. Don’t just take my word for it, why not see it for yourself by taking out our free 30-day trial on 1Time Tracking? You can choose from any user base package with no credit card requirements. Try it today!
