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The need for environmental consciousness has been on the rise for decades now. Many initiatives have been started to try and address the problem. The BBC reports that in 2021, the British government invested over £620 million in grants towards electric vehicles as part of the global sustainability goals. The government is also requiring each car company to sell a specific portion of electric vehicles each year in order to help the country meet its Net Zero plans.
Addressing the problem of carbon emissions should start at the grassroots level to create a domino effect. There are many ways to practice sustainability in everyday life. A past article by Anu Chaudhari highlighted the different ways you can do this, like buying secondhand products, eliminating single-use plastics from your life, and composting. For companies, creative eco-friendly improvements to your office and workspaces can make a big difference when enforced properly. Here are just some of the changes you can make to be more sustainable:
Go paperless
The first entry on this list makes your company eco-friendlier and more cost-efficient. Encourage your employees to rely on digital copies for files instead of printed documents. This will ensure that you are reducing paper waste and the need for dispensable office supplies. It can also make sensitive records more secure and harder to access by outsiders. Consider investing in a cloud server to make the exchange of information more seamless between employees and clients.
Use sustainable office supplies
There are many everyday office supplies that have been recycled and are readily available in the market. One example is paper pens. Instead of plastic, their exteriors are made up of biodegradable materials that should no longer clog landfills as discarded pens would. If your company still requires paper and printed documents, try opting for recycled materials instead. The Balance Small Business notes that this isn’t a complicated process at all and that your company doesn’t even have to outsource these materials. You can continue to re-use paper you no longer need for unofficial documents and notes, lessening your company’s overall waste in the process.
Switch to renewable energy
Fossil fuel-based sources of energy are big contributors to carbon emissions and climate change, so one way you can make your office more eco-friendly is by switching to a greener and cleaner source of electricity. Luckily, there are many options on the market today and one of the most popular ones is solar power. Hoymiles explains that adding a smart system, complete with a microinverter, will make energy conversion easier and more efficient. This means that you will be getting the same amounts of power from green energy as you would from a traditional grid setup. Energy systems like solar power are also an investment that is easy to install and will make a big difference to your operations' long-term sustainability.
Adjust your lighting
Allow natural light into your offices and work areas as much as possible. This eliminates the need for numerous light fixtures throughout the office. If this isn’t a viable option, it might be ideal to change the kind of lighting you have in the office to be more energy efficient. For one, you can swap out incandescent light bulbs for energy-saving LED ones. The Energy Saving Trust writes that switching to LED lights can save you up to £6 per bulb annually. This is because of how much more efficient they are in comparison to traditional and halogen bulbs.
Incentivise green commutes
Try investing in electric vehicles that can pick up employees who live far away from your office. Not only will this lessen the need for petrol, but this also means that you are emitting less harmful gasses into the atmosphere. You can also give incentives for employees who bike or walk to convince other members of the company to do the same as well. Creating policies like these will not only make your office eco-friendlier but will make your company as well as your employees more sustainable as a whole.The fight for a sustainable future has to be a collaboration among everyone. Creating small changes like these will help your company be more eco-friendly, emit less air pollution, and be more conscious of public concerns. It will also help you be more cost-efficient, making these changes a good investment for your office.
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