Every year, offices around the country waste untold volumes of paper, leave the lights on when “no one’s home,” and contribute millions of tons to the global plastic crisis.
Some businesses are saying enough is enough. Change starts at home, and many businesses are looking to get crafty about how they make a difference by adopting more eco-friendly decisions and protocols.
If you’re looking for some quick, relatively easy, and inexpensive ways to contribute, here are some basic eco-friendly practices your office can adopt.
It might seem like an obvious suggestion, but a lot of people follow an “out of sight, out of mind approach.” They’re just less likely to recycle if the receptacles or facilities are not front and center.
Place the recycling bins in plain view in common areas. Use bright markings or signs to identify them. Send out an email (don’t use paper!) reminding employees to recycle their plastic and glassware when they’re done.
Offices often give out free coffee, tea, or other refreshments to their employees or guests. Unfortunately, these refreshments often accompany single-use paper and plastic plates, cups, straws, and the like.
If you can afford to stop using them, your office will produce less trash and contribute less to the plastic crisis. You can also take that advantage to encourage employees to bring in their own reusable plasticware or cups.
Signage and badges, like single-use plastics, unfortunately, find themselves in the trash when their time is up. Investing in high-quality reusable badges and other signage can cut back on your office’s consumption.
We carry a wide range of reusable badges, including name badges that take a removable, replaceable insert sheet so that names, titles, and other information can be adjusted as needed, without throwing the badge away.
Cutting back slightly on heating and air conditioning can have really big implications for operational costs. For one thing, it can potentially save your office a lot of money - and on the other side of the coin, it’ll use less energy in the process, which is better for the environment.
But there’s another (positive) catch. You can take advantage of using less cooling in the summer to offer a nice perk to your employees. Consider dress-down days - they’ll boost employee morale and keep everyone more comfortable if the temps are a few degrees higher!
Offices sometimes leave the lights on all night, and sometimes, that makes sense. It also wastes a lot of electricity.
If you can afford to turn the lights off after hours, do it! If no one’s working in the office you have nothing to lose and money to save. You could also potentially encourage employees to unplug their laptops or desktops before going home for the night.
Making the shift to a “paperless” office is a big one, but it also has the potential to save a lot of money and prevent a lot of waste. The fact is, even though paper can be recycled, it’s not really a clean process. It’s much better just not to waste it in the first place.
It’s 2022 - people need paper less than they used to, anyway. Keep your communication, correspondence, and file-sharing digital. Use the Cloud where you can, and for those documents that must be printed, use 100% recycled paper.
Another unique way to promote environmentally friendly office practices is to start using green cleaning products, or working with your janitorial staff to use them.
Conventional cleaning products like bleach and ammonia are toxic and end up in drain water where they will make their way back into the environment. Modern green cleaning products use less caustic chemicals like hydrogen peroxide, citrus oils, acetic acid, and other cleaners that are much less harmful to the environment.
Another great opportunity for adopting eco-friendly office practices is to go green - literally - with office plants.
Indoor plants can help regulate the temperature and humidity of the air, make a space feel cozier and more inviting, and even help absorb noise, making a space feel peaceful and quiet. Some studies also indicate that keeping plants indoors can have a positive effect on employees' moods and spirits.
Some studies indicate that commuting Americans spend almost two whole days per year commuting. That’s a lot of wasted hours, and if the commuting takes place in a car or on a bus or train, and plenty of carbon is released into the atmosphere.
Cutting back on commuting can have positive impacts on employee productivity and can also help decrease your office’s carbon footprint. Consider allowing some employees to work remotely or if your office can afford it, offer bonuses or credits to employees who carpool or take public transit instead of driving.
Here at Imprint Plus, we’re committed to supporting your office in its greener initiatives in any way we can. We carry a wide range of reusable badges, including full-color plastic and metal name badges.
Take a look through our collection to choose a style that works for you or get in touch with one of our specialists to design your own badges!
