Five clever ways to make your office more energy efficient and eco-friendly
A “green” office provides a sustainable working space that focuses on minimizing its environmental impact – while making every staff aware of their environmental and social responsibility.
There are countless ways for organizations and employees to embrace eco-friendly policies. Practicing green strategies does not cost a fortune as many people might think. Organizations that have succeeded at implementing green strategies, have experienced diminished costs, improved efficiency, and customer growth. Check out some genius ways you can make your office more energy efficient and eco-friendly.
Construct monthly green team challenges
Monthly green team challenges are an exciting way of going green, paired with fun competitions. For instance, challenge all your office staff to spend a month without using plastic utensils at work, and reward the winners with small prizes like snacks or coffee gift cards.
Introduce reusable coffee mugs and water bottles
Reusable coffee mugs and water bottles are quite durable and if used carefully, can last for years. Asking all your employees to switch to reusable coffee mugs and water bottles can save nearly 156 plastic bottles per person every year. This strategy will allow you to generate less plastic waste while promoting a “green” office culture.
Switch to energy-efficient appliances
The amount of energy consumed by your office will have an impact on the environment’s health. If your office is an energy guzzler, it typically consumes more power from energy sources, generating more fossil fuels and releasing them into the atmosphere. Instead, replace your existing office appliances with alternatives that are more energy-efficient. You may begin by swapping light bulbs with LED lights – as they are 80% more efficient, as opposed to incandescent bulbs, and LED lights also last longer.
Go paperless
Make your office paperless. Instead of maintaining records and documents on paper, consider using various file-sharing software that uses cloud services like Google Docs and DropBox. These file-sharing software enable users to use a single network to collaborate on projects without requiring them to share, print or maintain paper records or files. By storing all your official files and documents in the cloud, you will never have to fret about losing important papers and managing overflowing file cabinets.
Create a reuse store
You can increase efficiency and slash business costs by establishing a reuse store or inventory. First, you need to avoid redundant purchases by getting items (like pens, notepads, and scissors) in quantities that are needed. After this, create a storage space where you can keep all the extra supplies. Instead of placing fresh orders every time a staff runs short of office supplies, ask them to look for the items in the reuse store. This strategy will mitigate the overall spending borne by the organization while facilitating greater efficiency at the workplace.
Motivate employees to adopt “green” measures to help minimize power consumption, emission of fossil fuels, and generation of waste.
