Theย UK isย more environmentally conscious than ever, with 89% of adults prioritising being more environmentally friendly this year.
Ahead ofย Global Recycling Day on March 18th, flexible office specialistย Workthereย hasย sharedย top tipsย onย howย UK workersย canย be more conscious of recycling in the office.
Bringย inย your own lunch
Bringing your own packed lunch in reusableย Tupperwareย containersย is an easy way to benefit the environment. By doing thisย forย the majority ofย the working week,ย rather thanย buying lunch, you are massively reducing the amount of waste in packagingย being thrown away.
Recycle your canned drinksย at home
Canned drinks are incredibly popular, withย eachย household using an average of 208ย aluminiumย cans aย year,ย butย recycling them properly is important. If your cans are not sorted into the appropriate recycling pile, this will contaminate the whole batch of recyclable items and they will end up being dumped in a landfill instead. Business recycling is often limited to just recyclable and non-recyclable items,ย so taking your cans home with you to beย distributed into the appropriate recycling bin canย helpย ensure the cans are reused,ย which saves on waste and energy.
Introduce a meat free day
The process of providing consumable meat contributes to 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions,ย so embedding a habitย ofย cutting out meat for just one day a week can have a hugely positive impact on the environment.ย A meat free diet produces 2.5xย less emissions than a meat based diet and uses significantly less water as well.
Switch up your commute
If you live close to your work, ditching the daily use of your car would significantly benefit the environment. By gettingย publicย transport,ย suchย as a train or bus,ย you are taking an additional car off the road, which willย result in a notable reduction inย CO2ย emissions, with every private car in the UK producing 180g of CO2 per kilometer.ย Cycling or walking will have an even greater impact,ย as well as giving you a daily source of exerciseย and the health benefits to go with it.
Turnย devicesย off whenย they areย not in use
This is commonlyย overlooked butย remembering to reduce your electricity usage in vast office spaces is quick, easy and hasย a big environmentalย benefit. Simply remembering to turn off the lights inย a roomย after aย meeting orย turning your computer off rather than putting it on standby when youโve finished for the day,ย will not onlyย result in lessย electrical energyย and CO2 emissions, but will alsoย reduceย annual energy bills.
Only print if you absolutely need to
A lot of businesses and office staff still use paper unnecessarily. In an age where technology allows us to view virtually any important documentation digitally, trying toย cut out printing all together or at least significantly reducing it will go a long way toย eliminating wasted paper, which often ends up in landfill sites. Not only that, but if staff are working completely paperless, this will save costs on buying paper and printers in the first place.
Digitise your to-do list
Instead of using aย notebook or paper diary,ย writing out your daily to do list on the computer or in your phone willย furtherย reduce paper usage, which in turn will be more environmentally sustainable, withย fewerย trees being cut down and a reduced demand for paper production.ย Apps,ย such as Asana or Evernote,ย offer straightforward options, orย simply make use of built-in tools on Google or Microsoft.
Bring in your own reusable cups/bottles
Reusable coffee cups and water bottles are becoming more and more popular with consumers as businesses try and do their bit to make themselves more environmentally sustainable. Ditching the traditional coffee mug at work will reduce theย water usage needed to wash up for multiple brews whilst having your own reusable drinks vessel will remove the need for any single use plastic bottles or cups, which reduces waste going into the environment.
Take packaging home to recycle
The UK uses an estimated five million tonnes of plastic each year, half of which is used in packaging.ย Ordering packages for either business orย personal use to your place of work isย commonplace butย stopping to think about how you dispose of the packagingย is important.ย Office recycling options are limited, so breaking down the packaging into cardboard, plastics and metal before takingย them home to put in the appropriate recycling bin willย lower the amount ofย waste significantly.ย Or even better, get your packages delivered directly to your home so itโs easier to recycle.
Cal Lee, Global Head of Workthere, commented:ย โWith a roadmap in placeย and offices set to be reopened, it is important that we do our bit toย recycleย to offset theย environmentalย impact this will have.ย There are a number of different practices we can adopt to promoteย a culture of sustainabilityย in the office, whichย willย not only have a positive impact on the environment but have numerous benefits for a business too, such asย improvedย mood and productivity as well as reduced costs.
โWe are confident that these tips will inspire those workers returning to their offices in 2021 to be more mindful of the environmental impact they canย just by tweakingย certain behaviours every day.โ
Find out more on how your business can become more sustainable usingย Workthereโsย ESG checklist.
