There can be no two opinions that the Earth is facing a severe climate crisis in the shape of global warming. The ozone layer protecting Earth from the Sun’s harmful UV rays is thinning with each passing year, and weather conditions have become harsher and unpredictable. It results from the overuse of fossil fuels, carbon dioxide emissions, and pollution caused by human beings. “Businesses should care to introduce eco-friendly solutions into the manufacturing process,” believes Gevorg Hambardzumyan, CEO of Front Signs, a US sign manufacturing company producing solar-powered light box signs to minimize the carbon footprint. If you are worried about the worsening environment, you can do your bit by making your office more eco-friendly. Here are six easy and exciting tips using which you can make your office more eco-friendly.
Switch to Clean and Green Energy
Clean, green energy is the best way to reduce your carbon footprint. Yes, there was a time not so long ago when you had a valid excuse for not switching to renewable energy as it was costly. Today, solar panels’ prices have come crashing down. The government provides lots of incentives to people installing solar panels.
They also receive tax cuts to gain monetarily in the long run. If your office building’s location does not permit solar panel installation, you can plan to buy clean energy produced at another site. If you are using signage to catch passersby’s attention, make sure to use LED lights inside these boxes. LED lights eat very little energy and produce cool light to cause minimal pollution.
There are lots of advantages to using clean energy. Some of these are as follows:
- Considerable savings in electricity bills.
- Reduction in your carbon footprint.
- Tax benefits that offset the initial cost of solar panels.
- Solar energy is virtually maintenance-free and very long-lasting.
Buy Office Supplies That Are Eco Friendly
You never paid attention to office supplies earlier. But you will be surprised to know that for everything used in your office, there is a more energy-efficient and eco-friendly option available in the market. You may find environment-friendly office supplies a little bit costlier, but you also get the satisfaction of leaving behind a much smaller carbon footprint from your office.
Some of these eco-friendly office supplies include recycled papers used for printing, bamboo pens, and LED lights that are highly energy efficient. If you are desirous but don’t know about eco-friendly office supplies, you can learn more about them and their sources from the website of Energy Star. From fans to lights, you can buy all highly energy-efficient appliances to save on your energy bills. Shout your love for the environment by installing signs that carry inspirational messages for your customers and employees.
Try to Make Your Office Paperless
The biggest culprits in leaving behind a large carbon footprint are papers used for writing letters and printing documents. Even the greenest of papers you buy from the market contain some wood obtained from trees, including 100% recycled papers sold in the market. According to Vince Digneo, the greenest paper means no paper at all. If this comes from a sustainability expert working at Adobe, it must be a Gospel truth. Going paperless is not an easy job, and your customers would create difficulties initially, but you can make them silent with the help of signs telling the world that your office has gone paperless. You can give a strong message to all your vendors and customers using these lightbox signs.
According to an estimate, nearly 90% of the waste generated in offices comes from workers’ revisions and corrections on papers while creating documents. There is no scope for any waste when your office has gone paperless. You can create documents in Google doc or Microsoft Word, where editing and revisions do not generate any waste.
Add Some Green Plants to Your Office
You cannot take your office into a forest, but you can certainly give your workers and visitors the feel of a clean and green office by adding some green plants to it. These plants are beautiful and soothing to the eyes and enhance the decor of your office. Green plants increase the office’s oxygen levels. They bring some liveliness into an otherwise dull office full of machines and appliances.
By keeping a green plant on the table or in a pot near the desk, you keep feeling fresher and closer to nature than when there is no plant in the office. If you want, you can even order display screens depicting various kinds of landscapes to reflect your love for nature. Also, plants have many more benefits:
- Green plants reduce stress and anxiety levels.
- Plants make you feel happy.
- They add to the oxygen levels, offsetting pollution caused by chemicals and gases.
- Green plants help in getting rid of ailments.
- Plants give a boost to the motivation and productivity of workers.
Allow Maximum Use of Natural Light
According to a report by the World Green Building Council, employees who get a chance to work on a table near the window have a 15% higher productivity than employees working under artificial lights. You make your office more eco-friendly and benefit from the higher productivity of your employees by maximizing the use of natural light inside the office.
With an abundance of sunlight, you also need very few artificial lights inside the office, thereby saving on your energy costs. You can install sensors to turn on LED lights whenever it is cloudy outdoors. It will help in reducing your energy bills. Employees are also happy as their bodies synthesize vitamin D from the sunlight, and they do not fall asleep at work.
Make worker’s commute green
You cannot claim to have a 100% eco-friendly office if you and your workers make use of fossil fuel-guzzling automobiles for your commute. You can request your employees to come to the office by walking or using bikes to reduce your carbon footprint. You can offer them incentives for switching to biking and tell them that it is also better for their health. or maybe you can help lease them electric cars.
You can also provide a work from home facility to employees whose presence is not essential in the office. You can use conferencing tools to contact and interact with such employees. You will be surprised that a green commute dramatically reduces carbon emissions and your office’s carbon footprint.
Making efforts to have a more eco-friendly office is good for the environment. It is also great for the productivity and health of your employees. Either way you look at it, it’s a win-win situation for your business and the environment.
