Sustainable Offices – What are the Benefits?
There are constantly new methods for businesses and people to implement environmentally friendly strategies. Businesses of all sizes can create a more sustainable workplace by decreasing waste and using more eco-friendly office products. There are several reasons to do so to enhance workplace sustainability. Apart from the environmental and climate benefits, becoming green offers some rather amazing business benefits. These include boosting your business reputation, recovery of resources, savings on costs and staff morale improvements. Even if a company-wide sustainability culture shift is not on your agenda, there are small changes you can begin integrating today.
Lower or Eliminate Paper Use
There are several approaches to reducing paper consumption. One is a transition in organisational culture towards a paper-free attitude, in which employees consider alternatives to printing before clicking the print button. Simply double-checking your print job before submitting it, and urging your team members to do the same, may save you thousands of sheets of paper each year. Try to avoid publishing anything that isn’t absolutely essential. Modern offices do not require printing anymore. Sending all memos/announcements through email and leveraging cloud storage for file sharing are two ways to reduce paper consumption. You may also aim to utilise only 100 per cent recycled paper goods and request FSC Certified paper from your printer.
Improve Efficiency of Energy and Water
If recycling facilities and alternatives are not easily accessible and visible to employees, they will be less likely to utilise them. Make sure your office recycling containers are properly labelled and simple to find. Recycling entails more than simply tossing your old newspapers into the blue bin. Encourage your coworkers to reuse items such as folders and notebooks to save the environment and save money.
Increasing the efficiency of resource usage is not only good for the environment, but it will also save you money. Businesses are responsible for a major portion of carbon emissions. As a result, they must also have responsibility for lowering them. Renewable energy is an excellent approach to ensure that the energy used in your office has no negative environmental impact.
Consider putting up solar panels. The first expense may appear to be counterproductive. It will, however, save you money in the long term. Solar panels have the potential to power your whole office, including lighting and electronics. Your workplace may be cooled and heated with solar thermal systems.
Even when employing renewable technologies, reducing usage is the most effective approach to save money and protect the environment.
More Greenery – Literally
Indoor plants provide additional green to your workspace. Plants absorb pollutants while also releasing oxygen back into the air, which is a win-win situation for you and your staff. Bring in a desk plant if you can to enhance the quality of the air and bring elements of nature into the office. Plants can boost productivity, reduce stress and inspire connectivity.
Sustainable offices bring a plethora of benefits for your business and your staff. Implementing just a few of these ideas can increase your professional image, provide you with monetary benefits, and employee morale.
To find out how Bevisco can increase the sustainability of your office and help you reap the benefits, get in contact with us.