Company’s spend huge amounts on office design, with the belief that a well-designed office equals a productive office. It has also recently become known that an environmentally friendly workspace equates to a productive workspace. A recent study from Harvard reported that green buildings can actually impact cognitive function and improve productivity in the workplace.
The study found that people who work in green-certified offices experience 30% fewer sickness-related absences and a 26% boost in cognitive function. It’s also worth no secret that a green office can save your company money. Yet another reason to go green!
But if a green certification isn’t quite within reach for your office, how do you jump on the eco-bandwagon? Here are five ways you can easily “greenify” your workspace and improve productivity within your team.
1. Go paperless
Once upon a time, it was necessary to consider the environment before printing this email. Paper filing is slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past. Where’d all the files go? They’re in the computer.
Take a quick scan across your office and notice any physical files. Now imagine there was a piece of software that might be used to manage them. Is there a CRM platform for this, or a project management tool for that? It’s 2019; there’s an app for everything. Need a signature? Implement a digital signature policy.
2. Go green with procurement
Everything you purchase for the office has the potential to be green. Consider sourcing office equipment and furniture that considers the full lifecycle of the manufacturing process. Ask your suppliers to provide you with a quote for the most environmentally sound product. These often end up being cheaper than their non-green alternatives.
3. BYO vessel
Office bins fill up very quickly, and there’s no denying who the main culprits are: coffee cups and plastic containers. Coffee cups aren’t recyclable, and very few are compostable. Buy Keep Cups for the office so staff can BYO cup to their local coffee shop. Take your own plate to the local sushi shop — many takeaway stores offer incentives for bringing your own plate!
4. Switch off everything at night
Unless you plan on camping out, a la George Costanza, there’s really no need to leave anything running overnight (except maybe the fridge. Please leave the fridge running). Create a rule that all equipment must be switched off at the main plug. If anyone forgets, they have to add money to the “green jar”, with all proceeds donated to an environmental fund.
5. Encourage green commuting
Encourage employees to lower their emissions by walking, biking, carpooling, or taking public transit to the office by offering incentives. Consider implementing work-from-home policies to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the office. With the majority of work digital-based, utilise web/video conferencing apps for meetings.
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