6 Ways to Make Your Office More Sustainable

A sustainable office represents a healthy workplace with high employee productivity while maintaining a low carbon footprint and making an environment-friendly company. At Glandore, we care deeply about our external environment and the internal environment that we create for our members. Here are 6 effective ways in which you can promote sustainability in your office and how you can encourage your employees to achieve your sustainability goals.

1. Recycle and reuse:

When trying to be mindful of your actions in order to be more sustainable, start with the basics. All the plastic, paper, and metal used can be recycled and reused again for use. There’s another reason why this can be a more mindful step toward the environment as it saves energy. Because it requires more energy to produce plastic when compared to recycling it.

2. Reduce energy usage and switch to energy-saving appliances:

Energy reduction is not only environmentally friendly but also cost-effective. Consuming less energy significantly reduces your carbon footprint. Simple steps like being mindful of your energy consumption and switching to more energy-efficient appliances can help you avoid unnecessary energy consumption. Maximizing the amount of natural light in your office can significantly reduce your energy consumption.

3. Be mindful of your paper consumption:

We are well aware that paper production inflicts a lot of stress on our environment. Try to adopt a paperless system, if possible, otherwise, try to cut down your paper consumption to the minimum. Analyze and print only when it’s actually important and always prefer recycled paper whenever possible as it reduces further damage to the environment.

4. Use green energy:

Renewal energy sources like solar and wind energy are a great switch from traditional energy sources that involve extensive use of fossil fuels. The switch will be a one-time investment to reduce dependency on non-renewable sources of energy and will prove to be a lot more cost-efficient in the long run.

5. Make some plant friends:

Let’s welcome some greenery and fresh air into your office arena. The presence of plants in your office will not only work as a great air purifier but will also take you a step closer to your sustainability goals.

At our meeting rooms at Glandore we include lots of greenery!

6. Go green with cleaning:

Many of the cleaning products people use release harmful chemicals into the environment. Choosing bio-degradable and non-toxic cleaners will ensure a clean and healthy office along with reducing air and water pollution.

How to encourage employees to help achieve your sustainability goals:

The first and the most important step to encouraging your employees is to include sustainability in your company’s culture. Make sustainability visible to your employees inside and outside the office to help them align their mindset to the company’s culture. Another interesting way is to involve employees in the co-creation of sustainable practices in the office. You may consider creating a green team to come up with new and innovative ideas to promote sustainability and create knowledge sessions for other employees on the benefits of adopting sustainable practices. Green challenges are a great way to encourage employees to take progressive steps towards sustainability and educate them that even their smallest contribution counts.

Sustainability is a time-consuming process. So start slow and don’t rush. Implement these practices one by one to see which practices work best for your company and work your way up from there. If you’d like to know more about sustainability or get some inspiration for your team you can check out more of our green blogs here.