An eco-friendly office is totally possible with our 5 tips
[one_half]Nowadays, everyone is trying to be a little bit more green. As we hear reports every day of the effects of global warming, the fact that sea levels are rising and the amount of fuel available is rapidly declining, it’s definitely necessary for us all to do our bit. Most of us really try and do our bit to stay as green as possible while we’re at home – it’s during working hours that our eco standards slip slightly! So what if we told you it was actually incredibly easy to make your office eco-friendly?
Making an effort to ensure you’re running a green office obviously has huge benefits for the environment, and personally you’ll feel great that you’re doing your bit to help. Another brilliant thing about an eco-friendly office is that it is far more cost effective for you to run, and you’ll save lots of money in the long run by following our tips…[/one_half]
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Create an eco-friendly office by…
- Going as paperless as you possibly can
This should be an easy one in the modern age! Aim to be a ‘paperless’ company; or as paperless as you can be without affecting the quality of your work. Keep everything stored online and do as much work as possible digitally.
- If you have to use paper, be as economical as possible
Obviously, expecting any company to suddenly turn completely paperless is useless – it’s never going to happen! For all the times you do need to use paper, just be as conscious as you can be. Print everything double sided, use smaller fonts to fit as much content onto the page as you can, and reuse scrap paper wherever necessary.
- If devices are not in use, switch them off
Offices are packed full of electronic equipment; computers, photocopiers, printers, phones, tablets, everywhere you look there’s something that needs to be plugged in or charged in order to work! That’s not ideal in terms of saving energy, but you can definitely keep on top of your usage. Switch off anything that is not being used, and when you leave your office space for the night, ensure they’re switched off at the wall socket too – if not, they’ll still be using energy all night long.
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- In the same idea, even though it may be tempting and slightly easier to simply put computers to sleep, switch them off
[one_half_last]Setting your computer to sleep rather than switching it off at the end of everyday definitely makes life easier when you arrive into work each morning, but leaving it on all night is a disaster for the environment – imagine how much energy an office full of sleeping computers is wasting! You may be gaining an extra minute of waiting around for your computer to start up each day, but you’ll be doing the planet and your electricity bill a big favour![/one_half_last]
- Keep on top of the lights
If your office has a kitchen and bathroom area, make it a rule that every time a member of staff leaves those rooms the light must be switched off behind them. There’s nothing that wastes energy and money like a light shining in an empty room for hours. Additionally, whoever is last to leave the office each evening should have a task to double check every light has been switched off.
- Monitor the heating
Turn that thermostat down! Offices are notorious for being much warmer than they need to be, and without adding to office politics of who thinks it’s too cold and who is boiling hot, erring on the side of caution and keeping your heating low saves costs and wasted fuel. If you can, set your heating to be on a timer, so that it only warms the room for a few hours everyday; the heat should stick around even when the boiler has been turned off, and hopefully this will satisfy everyone’s specific temperature needs too!
- Recycle everything you possibly can!
In 2016, this should really go without saying! Order some official recycling bags from your local council, buy as many bins or boxes as you need to safely store a week’s worth of rubbish, make posters to hang round the office, and insist that anything that can be recycled, is recycled.
Soon, you’ll start to see your office bills coming back looking reduced, and you can feel great that you and your team are helping the environment – it’s a win-win!
If you have any other tips on how to run an eco-friendly office, comment to let us know