10 Key Sustainable Business Practices for a Greener Office

A strong green wave is sweeping through business, and it is not anticipated to halt soon. As a result, there has never been a better opportunity to make your office a green workspace. Going green in the workplace benefits your company's bottom line and is the right thing to do for future generations.

It can result in financial savings due to lower utility costs and waste, boost employee engagement through better health and morale, and show clients and partners that you care about the environment and society. From low cost, big impact to high cost, low impact, we have detailed 10 key sustainable business practices your organisation can use to make your office more sustainable.

1. Convert All Lighting to LEDs

With a 75% reduction in energy use and a 25-times longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs, LED lights are now the most energy-efficient type of lighting. When it’s time to replace your current bulbs, making this transition will save your company a lot of money on maintenance and power bills. It is also incredibly simple to do.

2. Establish a Thorough Recycling Programme

Even if your workplace probably recycles paper and plastics, you can improve recycling by adding glass and metals to your programme. Weighing your recycling before it leaves the premises will simplify tracking and reporting to stakeholders how much waste your organisation is going through.

3. Promote Hybrid-Working

Allowing employees to work from home, even just one day a week can significantly reduce the emissions they produce during their journey. In particular, researchers by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment estimate that hybrid working has the potential to save almost 165,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. 

Additionally, most companies have discovered that many workers desire flexible work schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so this change is certain to be well-liked.

4. Reduce Your Paper Usage

How much office paper use is essential in the current digital era? Most papers can be shared through email or stored in company systems, so becoming paperless is a simple approach to save printing expenses and prevent deforestation.

Despite this, most offices continue to utilise paper in some capacity for crucial papers like agendas and invoices. Reduce your company's environmental impact by using recycled paper whenever possible instead of virgin paper while using paper. Options made from recycled materials are widespread and reasonably priced.

An additional step is to cut back on office paper use and limit the accessibility of your business printers. There is less paper waste, reduced energy usage, and more sustainably run businesses when employees are discouraged from printing.

5. Have Zero Waste Break Rooms

The break rooms in traditional offices produce a lot of rubbish. This wastes resources and may give your employees the impression that they aren't contributing to environmental protection. To create waste-free break areas, use these methods:

• Provide reusable cups and mugs in place of single-use items.
• Establish a food waste composting programme.
• Utilise biodegradable alternatives (such as wooden, bioplastic, etc.) instead of plastic cutlery.
• Choose biodegradable coffee pods if your workplace employs them.

6. Examine Your Office Supply Chain

Look more closely at the source of your monthly office supplies if you want to build an eco-friendly workspace. Consider where they come from, whether they are constructed of sustainable materials, and how you might change your behaviour to assist manufacturers actively attempting to make products circular.

7. Invest in Your Green Team

The incapacity of many corporate sustainability teams to inform and implement green measures in the workplace is often due to underfunding. Try raising the eco budget to explore what your green team can do to promote sustainability in the workplace.

8. Bring the Outside In

Bringing the outside within can promote sustainability in the workplace. Evidence shows that having plants in the workplace improves employee morale and productivity while reducing air pollution. This simple and affordable practice can raise employees’ long-term dedication and production.

9. Support Greener Commuting Options

Organise a carpooling programme for the employees. Offer a survey to interested individuals so that you may collect the essential data (such as where they live, when they leave for work, when they prefer to return home at the end of the day, etc.). Use this data to assist in pairing up employees.

Send emails with information about how much money is spent on driving to work and the health advantages of choosing more active options to employees to promote the use of active transport (bike, walking, etc.) and public transport. This is a good way to motivate employees to adopt environmentally friendly transport methods.

10. Invest in Initiatives for Green Technology

Typically, environmentally friendly offices have cutting-edge technology that makes sustainability simple. Solar power or modified energy-efficient lighting, Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets, green data centres, and smart glass are a few examples of these green projects.

Invite Employees to Submit Green Initiatives

Invite your employees to actively participate in the discussion about sustainability at work. Make a place specifically for them to contribute suggestions for enhancing the current procedures and practises. Your employees are the best people to know where the issues are.

Here at Codex, we have a Continuous Improvement Team in place who are dedicated to finding new methods and ways of doing things to help make our work environment better and more sustainable. One of their goals is to identify areas of inefficiency and waste within the organisation and develop and implement strategies to improve processes, reduce costs, and minimise our environmental footprint.

By working closely with other departments and employees, the continuous improvement team can identify pain points and opportunities for improvement that might not be immediately apparent. This collaborative approach ensures that all stakeholders are involved in the process, and that everyone's needs are considered.

Everyone wins when the office promotes sustainability. By stepping up the green strategies that are effective and experimenting with fresh, creative ideas to make your office a healthier, happier, and more sustainable place to work, you will reap the benefits, enhance employee dedication, and show all stakeholders that your organisation is committed to a sustainable future.

---

Through our Codex Cares Programme, we are working together to identify actions and initiatives we can implement to reduce our carbon footprint and positively impact our local community. 

RELATED ARTICLES:

Achieving Our Sustainability Goals: Thorntons Recycling Visit

How to Make Your Office More Sustainable