10 Sustainability Practices for your Workplace

The smallest improvements can have a significant impact on carbon footprints, but many companies face the challenge of implementing change. Many are sticking to their promise to significantly reduce waste and create a more sustainable workplace overall. This article outlines 10 sustainable business practices your company can implement to make your offices more sustainable.

1. Switch all Lighting to LEDs. 

LED lamps are by far the most efficient type of lighting on the market. They use 75% less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Converting will therefore save your office a lot of money and can be easily implemented the next time you replace your light bulbs.

2. Implement a Comprehensive Recycling System

While your office is likely recycling its paper and plastics, you can take recycling to the next level by expanding your program to include glass and metals. However, the implementation of a comprehensive recycling system often fails because of the cleaning company or building management. Instead of hiring another company, which often leads to higher costs, a conversation with the other companies in the office complex could persuade the cleaning company to make a change.

 
3. Allow Flexible Home-Office Options

Giving your employees the option to work from home, even if it's just one day a week, can significantly reduce their commuting emissions. Plus, the COVID 19 pandemic has made most companies realize that many employees want flexible work schedules, which means that enabling them will certainly be followed by positive feedback.

4. Eliminate Paper Use

Ask yourself, how much paper is actually necessary in today's digital age in the office? Most documents can be emailed or stored in corporate databases and clouds. Going paperless can therefore slow down deforestation and save on printing costs. For the work that can't be done paperless, it's a good idea to switch to recycled materials.

 
5. Waste-free Break Rooms

In offices, a lot of waste is generated in the break rooms. In addition to the impact this has on the environment, it could also give employees the impression that the company is not doing its part to protect the environment.

Waste-free break rooms can be achieved by:

• Offering reusable cups and mugs instead of disposable tableware,
• Implementing a composting program for food waste,
• Replacing plastic cutlery and stir sticks with biodegradable alternatives (wood, bioplastic, etc.).
• Lunch boxes that can be used to pick up lunch to-go if the company does not have a restaurant or canteen.

6. Investment in Renewable Energies

Investing in renewable energy is one of the most influential sustainable business practices. Using renewable energy can significantly reduce your company's carbon footprint, depending on the predominant energy source in your region.

To that end, however, it should be said that switching to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind or geothermal can come at a high cost, and these technologies are not effective in every region. Many states have state incentive programs these days, which means the return on investment is faster than expected.

Companies also currently benefit from incentive programs that may not exist in a few years. Also, bans or sanctions may soon follow for companies that have not yet invested in renewable energy. Investments are also rewarded in other ways: companies that modernize and act in an environmentally friendly way become more attractive to customers and employees, especially among younger target groups.

 
7. Encourage employees to travel to work using low-carbon transportation.

Measures to make your employees' transportation behavior as low-carbon as possible include:

• Organize carpooling for employees.
• Providing an annual pass or concessions for using public transportation
• Providing charging stations for electric vehicles (cars, bicycles, scooters, mopeds)
• Providing information on sustainable transportation options in the surrounding area

8. Install water-saving fixtures.

You can save water in the office by installing WaterSense faucets and toilets in your office bathrooms. This change requires some investment, but the payback period is short because you save energy resources as well as water resources.

 
9. Introduce a More Flexible Dress Code

You can save energy, and therefore money, on heating and cooling your office by making your dress code more flexible. Allowing men to wear shorts in the summer and women to wear long pants in the winter can significantly reduce your office's air conditioning needs.

Another environmental (and financial) benefit of a more flexible dress code is that employees' clothes will require less dry cleaning. Since this consumes large amounts of water and uses chemical cleaning agents and dyes, reducing the need for dry cleaning can make your office much more environmentally friendly.

10. Buy Second-Hand Office Equipment

This isn't always possible for products that wear out or become obsolete quickly, such as computers, but for general, long-lasting equipment like desks and cabinets, opt to buy secondhand. Buying used equipment reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, eliminates the need to manufacture new equipment, and can save your company a lot of money at the same time.