Sustainability and the environment are important priorities for modern businesses. Being more eco-friendly not only helps to keep your running costs down, but it helps to save the environment.
By pledging to be more eco-friendly, your business can set a great example to others, as well as develop deeper trust and respect from your customers and clients. But signing up to a pledge isn’t enough, you need to put it into practice to ensure success.
Are you ready to get serious about your eco-friendly office? Here are some tips for making it work.
Set targets
To be able to measure the effectiveness of your efforts, it helps to set targets for your business. By setting a target for recycling, energy consumption and other factors, you can have something to work towards, as well as a great PR story when you hit your targets. Bring in an energy consultant to help evaluate your current use and work with them to set a realistic target for your future. Make sure you measure progress regularly to help you stay on track and identify the things that are working, and what could need modifying.
Get your teams involved
Making a success of sustainability needs to be a team-wide effort to ensure you get the best results. Some companies have sustainability teams to help agree on policies and ensure that they are implemented. As well as helping all staff share the responsibility for sustainability within the office, why not encourage more sustainable practices outside of the workplace too? From using active travel to get to work to using eco-friendly bulbs at home, there are ways that everyone can play their part to reduce energy use and waste.
Simple changes can make a big difference
You don’t have to make significant changes to be able to make a difference. Some of the smaller things you can do in the office for the environment, like using smart bulbs or bringing in additional recycling bins, can actually make a big difference. Make sure you communicate any policies to your employees to ensure they’re aware of any new processes. As things become part of typical office practice, you can think about introducing further measures to improve your sustainability.
Try going paperless
Want to set your company a real challenge? Why not go paperless? A paperless office can be more secure, more efficient and can reduce your paper waste significantly. While going completely paperless can be difficult for your business, encouraging more digital working could be a way to make it work.
Everyone should share the responsibility for protecting the environment, and that includes businesses. The changes you make towards making your business more eco-friendly can have a lasting impact, while also encouraging others to do the same. Take a look at further ways you can make your office green and get serious about sustainability.