Are you looking to make your office eco-friendlier? The impact businesses have on the environment is a trend that more and more employees consider important when finding a job. In the recent years, eco-friendly office changes have become an important part of business responsibility and an influential aspect when it comes to deciding to be competitive in the future. Creating eco-friendly practices can have a positive effect on employees and their mindset, their health, and their productiveness. Let’s look further into how you can create an eco-friendly office.
What is an eco-friendly office?
An eco-friendly office is a workplace that reduces the carbon footprint of your business while creating an uplifting and productive work environment for employees. Basically, an eco-friendly office means being environmentally friendly and having a workplace that is better for ecosystems and the environment.
What effect does being eco-friendly have on employees?
As previously mentioned, the environment is an important part of many employees’ decisions when choosing to join or stay with an organization. We are going to review some statistics about engagement and productivity around eco-friendly offices.
- 51% of employees won’t work for a company that doesn’t have strong social or environmental commitments. [Cone Communications]
- 96% of Generation Y employees are concerned about the environment and expect their employers to take steps towards becoming more sustainable. [Johnson Controls]
- 74% of employees say their job is more fulfilling when they are provided with opportunities to make a positive impact on social and environmental issues – and 70% would be more loyal to a company that helps them contribute to important issues. [Cone Communications]
- One out of every four employees would look for a new job if they discovered their employer had a bad record on environmental issues. [WattzOn]
- Only 27% of U.S. workers are very satisfied with their employer’s efforts to help the environment. [WattzOn]
Suggestions for how you can create an eco-friendly office.
As an organization, being environmentally aware and taking action may or may not be important to you. Either way, we are going to review how you can create an eco-friendly office, in case that is something you are interested and invested in.
- Go paperless. If paper is needed, try using recycled paper products.
- Recycle office waste and provide bins for employees to do so as well.
- Eliminate plastic products, like cups, silverware, etc. Encourage and possibly provide reusable products.
- Look for eco-friendly office snacks, coffee, and tea.
- Create a committee to lead the charge for shifting your office to be eco-friendlier.
- Turn off computers, printers, copiers, and other electronics when they are not in used (usually at the end of the day).
- Turn lights off when you leave a room or put them on motion sensors.
- Encourage telecommuting and flexible schedules. American workers spend an average of 47 hours per year commuting in rush hour traffic. This adds up to over 3.7 billion hours and 23 billion gallons of gas used due to high-volume traffic each year.
- Buy pre-owned office furniture. This helps to recycle old furniture and supports your local economy.
Implementing, even just a few of the above suggestions in your office, can make a big impact.
Whether you are looking to create an eco-friendly office or not, your employees may be. If you haven’t already, it may be a good idea to ask them how important that type of environment is to them.
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Pre-owned furniture is a great solution if you need to replace standard office furniture like desks, filing cabinets, and more. Also, if you are looking to be eco-friendlier.
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