11 Tips to Improve Sustainability in the Workplace

Once upon a time, sustainability was merely a trend, but fast forward to today and it's the cool lifestyle everyone wants to adopt. It's now the ultimate business model and the secret sauce to running companies like a boss.

But guess what? It's not just for the big players; even the small fish in the corporate pond need to get on the eco friendly train. Discover 11 tips about living sustainably and master the art of seamlessly incorporating it into your daily routine, whether at home or at work.

Today we embark on a mission to turn the office into an eco friendly oasis and prove that sustainability is not just a trend, but a revolutionary lifestyle that can help both Mother Earth and your small business. So, grab your reusable coffee mug and let’s inject a dose of sustainability into the heartbeat of your office.

11 Tips to Increase Sustainability in the Workplace

Forget the days of paper wastelands and energy-consuming gadgets – it's time to power up your office space with a dash of wit and a sprinkle of innovation. Here are 11 tips to help you implement and promote eco-friendliness.

1. Green Transportation

Let’s start from the very beginning. If your employees are commuting to work, one way to reduce your carbon footprint is to start by promoting green transport means. Encourage them to use public transport by offering monthly passes. Support biking, walking or carpooling among employees. This could easily be done by providing bike racks or shower facilities for employees that bike or walk to work.

2. Remote or Hybrid Work

If you’re not able to offer public transport passes or other facilities, you could encourage remote and hybrid work. By having employees work from home, you can reduce city pollution, costs, or even opt for smaller and more affordable office space. What’s more, the hybrid working policy is much appreciated by employees, so, at the same time you are increasing employee satisfaction.

3. Energy Efficiency

We’re well aware that renting and maintaining an office space is an expensive mission. That’s exactly why we recommend increasing energy efficiency. Start by investing in energy-efficient appliances, lighting and HVAC systems. These will reduce utility costs throughout the summer and winter. Additionally, encourage employees to be mindful and turn off or unplug devices when not in use.

4. Reduce Office Waste

Another way to improve sustainability in the office is to separate and recycle waste. Reduce office waste by implementing recycling programs for paper, plastic and glass. Simply separate the bins and make sure they are disposed of correctly and in the right place.

You can also minimise single-use items such as paper plates or plastic cups and replace these with ceramic plates and glass drinkware. This is not only cheaper, it’s also healthier.

5. Go Paperless

Embrace the digital revolution and use this to your advantage. Go paperless and print only when necessary. Make sure you use both sides of paper and most importantly, make use of digital documents. Nowadays, you can send, collaborate and even sign all the documents you need using just a computer.

6. Opt for Sustainable Office Supplies

If you can’t really go paperless, there are ways around it. You can for example choose to buy only eco friendly promotional products. There are a myriad of promotional pens and branded notebooks made of cork, bamboo, recycled paper or plastic and many more sustainable materials. You can also shop in bulk to reduce unnecessary packaging while also saving money.

7. Save Water

Reducing water consumption is a vital change that you can do without decreasing the quality of life. Simply install water efficient faucets, make sure the taps are not dripping and encourage water conservation. Additionally, nicely ask employees to avoid leaving water running for no reason. After all, it’s the little things that make a difference.

8. Eco Friendly Cleaning Products

It’s a well known fact that most cleaning products are very harmful for the environment and the people that inhale them. Switching to eco friendly cleaning products or asking the cleaning company to use only non-toxic cleaning products is going to make a huge difference. Your staff will breath cleaner air, feel less dizzy and be more productive. On top of all this, you can consider reusable clothes instead of disposable wipes.

9. Office Design

The feng-shui and the office design has a huge impact on wellbeing and sustainable practices. The overall office should have access and optimise natural light as much as possible. For example, making sure desks are facing windows is a great way to reduce usage of artificial light, and therefore your costs.

What’s more, you can also optimise the office layout for better airflow and temperature regulation. This will not only make your staff feel better and work more efficiently, but you will reduce the costs as well.

10. Lunch and Snacks

Encouraging employees to bring lunch and snacks in reusable containers is a fabulous way to support sustainability in the workplace.

There are also many employers which provide snacks in the office. For those of you that have allocated a budget for office snacks, choose locally produced food and healthier options such as locally sourced apples or made in the UK protein bars. There are a myriad of affordable options that could make a difference.

11. Room Temperature

The ideal room temperature is 20 to 22 degrees Celsius. Setting the thermostat higher or lower than the 20-22 range might interfere with your staff's performance. You can be efficient during winters as well as summers. Ventilators and fans are real power guzzlers. Instead, use natural ventilation, open the windows every morning and air the space.

Fun Fact: Did you know that increasing room temperature with just 1ºC can increase energy costs by up to 6%? Remember this when you want to turn the heating up this winter. 

Improving sustainability in the workplace is easier than you think. Read these 11 practices and you’ll find out you don’t need to spend a fortune to make the office more sustainable. On the contrary, many of these tips will actually help you reduce the water and electricity bill in a jiffy.