With the world slowly starting to reopen, many people are returning to offices in a both a hybrid and full-time model. Now is the perfect time to start instilling more green practices into your workplace! Here are a few tips from the LenovoPRO Community on how to make your business more environmentally friendly.
Create a Hybrid Model
If the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s that we can be just as productive working at home as we can be working in an office. There are multiple benefits of creating a hybrid work model that can also shift your company to have more environmentally friendly habits. By not requiring employees to be in the office every day, you are reducing the amount of travel and CO2 produced from cars since they won’t have to drive back and forth every single day. Having less employees in the office on certain days also minimizes the amount of energy your office uses. Some offices could even consider a remote work situation all together.
Recycling Plan
Consider placing recycling bins in visible and easy-to-access locations throughout the office to encourage your employees to recycle. Making it convenient for your employees is a great solution. While it’s great to recycle paper and lunch containers, it’s important to remember you can also recycle old electronics, as well. A commonly recycled item: ink and toner cartridges. Instead of putting them in the typical blue recycling bin you can normally ship them back to the manufacturer who will properly discard them.
Solar Energy
Free electricity? Sign me up! Consider investing in solar panels for offices as an alternative energy option. You may even want to consider incentivizing remote employees to solar for their homes. Some benefits of solar panels include energy cost savings, free source of electricity in the long term, federal investment tax credit, and reliable and maintenance-free energy. Not only are you going to receive those awesome benefits, but you are creating a responsible environmental image for your business by investing in something for a greener future.
Promote Reusable Office Supplies (& Prohibit Single Use Items)
Who doesn’t want a cool new water bottle instead of using a boring paper cup at the water cooler? By reducing the use of single-use items, you are not only rewarding employees with fun company merch, but you are also making an environmentally conscious move to eliminate unnecessary waste. Discouraging items like plastic silverware or plates will encourage people to bring reusable ones to keep in the office.
It’s not just in the café where you can make an impact but in your office supplies as well. Encourage employees to take notes on their PCs
Encourage and reward positive environmental behavior
While saving the planet is obviously a huge benefit, creating a rewards system to recognize employees practicing green habits might be just what your staff needs to get motivated. Whether it's a shoutout at the next all-hands and a gift card or a snazzy trophy to proudly display at their desk for the month—any way to make it a fun-natured competition will make a difference. Make the gift cards digital, of course, to reduce waste!
Get an environmental audit
Getting an environmental audit on your business is a wonderful idea to make your company greener. Auditors provide an assessment of the environmental performance of a business then identifies areas needing improvement. Some recommendations can include things like LED-based lighting system or assessing leaky faucets in bathrooms.
An environmental audit will be extremely transparent and make it easier for you to make your organization greener sooner. Just like solar panels, an environmental audit may have higher upfront cost, but it should provide long term benefits in the end.
We hope these 6 quick tips will help jumpstart your company’s direction to lean more green. Slow and steady wins the race, so choosing one to start off with is a great step to begin your progression to making your company more environmentally conscious.
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Do you have green practices set in place at your business? Do you have any tips for first time business owners going green? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!