We’re all doing our part to make the world a little bit safer for us to live, breathe, and work in. As an office manager or business owner, you have the ability to set the tone for the office in terms of conservation efforts by making it more eco-friendly. If you aren’t sure where to start, here are a few helpful tips for how to create a more eco-friendly office space.
Use Alternative Energy
There are several benefits of solar energy to keep in mind when creating an eco-friendly workspace. According to RJ Construction, solar energy is renewable, low-maintenance, and has a diverse range of applications. Plus, it becomes something you can brag about to your customers. If you have control over the way your office building is powered, going solar is definitely something to consider.
Change Your Bulbs
Fluorescent lights threaten the environment because when they are broken, as often happens in landfills, toxic mercury leaks out of them and into the ground, where it can eventually end up in the groundwater that people drink. Mercury is extremely dangerous for both humans and animals, so environmental groups recommend opting for LED lighting instead. LEDs use even less energy than
Use Furniture Made of Recycled Materials
You may not have even been aware that you can buy furniture made of recycled materials, but is a huge boon to the worldwide waste reduction programs that focus on eliminating the massive burden posed by people throwing away furniture. You can buy furniture products made of recycled plastic or more exotic materials, such as ones made by discarded Chinese ceramic. Buying used may not be as exciting as a new, recycled material product, but it’s still an eco-friendly (and affordable!) way to fill out your office.
Go Paperless
Instituting a no-paper policy in the office is a great way to set the tone of minimal resource consumption. In addition to reducing the environmental burden of paper waste, going paperless can save money for your business as well. According to eFileCabinet, the US spends roughly $460 billion just to manage paper-driven information overload. Paperless processes are much more streamlined and less error-prone than traditional record storage methods. Digitizing your business is not just good for the environment — it is an existential necessity for businesses that want to shed their administrative hurdles in favor of doing all their business in the cloud. We can expect technological innovation to speed up the process of digitization, helping the environment in the process by eliminating paper waste.
When you make these small but meaningful changes to your office, you will be doing your part to build a more sustainable pattern of consumption as we work to prevent and repair damage to the environment.