Sustainable development goals have become a buzzword worldwide, with countries rushing to be on the cutting edge of the green revolution. But they’re not just for government entities and large corporations. Even small offices and individual employees can do their part to encourage sustainable development on the job.
In this article, EcoCareers recommends three ways you can make your office a bit more environmentally friendly, encouraging green ways of working that can benefit everyone.
Three Ways to Make Your Office More Green
1.Go Remote to Cut Emissions
Most people would be surprised to find out exactly how much of an impact remote working has on green initiatives, at least in the United States.
Research published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a “peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary scientific journal,” found that the U.S. can cut up to 60% of harmful carbon emissions if more companies would switch from working in-person to working remotely.
Remote work is something of a touchy subject in the United States, given how many businesses are encouraging RTO. But there are more reasons than one for companies to embrace remote — and environmental impact is one of them.
2.Implement Recycling Programs
Of course, it’s not possible for every company to implement remote work. Some work necessarily must be done in person, such as chefs, custodial workers, farmers, and more.
Even in these cases, though, there are ways offices can become more green. For instance, they can introduce office recycling programs that encourage employees to be more mindful about reducing their collective environmental impact.
Just think about how many documents get trashed every day, or how many recyclable coffee cups get thrown away because there wasn’t a convenient way to recycle them. Office-managed programs could help that.
3.Encourage Commuting
Companies whose employees necessarily must report into the office, whether full-time or hybrid, may think about new ways to encourage employees to commute rather than driving their own vehicles.
This can be a convenient way to help the business be more mindful about reducing its carbon footprint while also relieving employees of the stress of figuring out how to get to and from work.
For instance, Harrison Tang, Spokeo CEO, told RemoteWorker.jobs that his company started group transportation for hybrid employees to make it easier for them to come into work a few days per week.
This strategy might not work for a large corporation with hundreds of employees, but it can serve as inspiration for some of the innovative ways businesses can embrace the transition to net-zero and take meaningful action to achieve it.