’Going green’ is becoming increasingly important in this day and age. More and more reports all around the globe are indicating that the ’global weirding’ isn’t going to disappear all by itself. That’s why we can’t afford to overlook these problems or sweep them under the rug – at least not anymore.
One way to try to fend off this difficulty is by creating environmentally-friendly offices everywhere we can. If everyone does her or his due diligence in this regard, the future might not be as bleak as it is currently. We can’t stress out enough the importance of urgency to deal and overcome this matter, if possible. For this reason, we present to you the 5 ways you can create an eco-friendly working environment, starting today. That means that you don’t have to make any drastic changes that are going to cost you a lot of money. On the contrary, you might be able to actually save by following these tips.
Pay Attention to the Way You Use Your HVAC System
It’s no secret that your HVAC system is probably over-consuming the energy both in winter and summer days. We’d recommend you to lay off the thermostat for a couple of reasons. First, always remember that the AC is only a ’solution’ to the problem it itself created in the first place.
You can’t expect to (positively) impact the climate change while always having your office temperature set at cozy and optimal 74 degrees. Even making the slightest change here (cooling the office at 75 degrees, for example) can be of huge difference. This way the office will consume approximately 30,000 fewer kilowatts, which means that you can potentially save more than $3,000 per year. Not a bad deal overall, right?
Consider Going Completely Paperless
In today’s world there absolutely shouldn’t be any need for paper whatsoever. If someone tells you that there are ways to make paper ’green’, make sure to remind them that the ’greenest’ paper is actually – no paper.
Encourage your employees to work everything digitally. Insist on paperless meetings, digital signatures, and tell them to avoid printed documents whenever possible. Slowly but surely everyone will hop on board, and this shouldn’t be that hard with all the computers, mobile phones, tablets, and other gadgets everywhere around.
Use Renewable Energy Sources and Take Care of the Interior Design
Believe it or not, but the way you set up your office(s) can be of great importance for the environment. What you should do is embrace renewable energy and make these green power sources your number one power generators. Solar and wind energy are probably the greenest of them all, so you should definitely consider things like rooftop solar installations and large-scale wind farms. The good news is that these can be installed almost anywhere, so you don’t have to worry if your company is big enough for these changes to be effective.
Another thing you can do is to also make sure that your office furniture comes from the recyclable materials. In case you have any troubles or concerns on how to equip your working environment to be eco-friendly, we’d recommend you to get in touch with some office refurbishment specialists who’ll make sure you’re following ’the green plan’ accordingly. On top of this, you can always try to put as many plants and flowers as you can inside. That way the office(s) will have more oxygen and will offset any chemicals and air pollutants.
Let There Be Natural Light
A huge part of having a green office is making sure there’s enough natural light around. You need to maximize that for a couple of different reasons. First of all, your employees will be far more productive if they’re working in an environment where there’s enough natural light. Make sure to put them near sunlit windows, and you’ll definitely see some improvements and boosts in their productivity levels. The workers will feel better overall because sunlight sets the body’s natural circadian rhythm.
Secondly, and arguably, more importantly, you’ll save more energy. Even if you’ve switched to renewable energy sources, there are still advantages to working during the daylight. But in case you must use parts of the day when there’s not much natural light, we’d recommend switching to LED lighting fixtures, for instance.
Always Recycle, Reduce, or Reuse
The ’triple R’ of an environmentally friendly office – recycling, reducing, and reusing. Make these three words resonate in everyone’s heads all the time. Remember that it all starts with you: your employees look up to you and this means that you should lead by example.
The first thing you want to do is set up recycling stations. The next step is to ensure that everyone actually uses them. There’s no point in just talking about going green, you need to practice what you preach. On top of this, you should also encourage everyone to reuse the products whenever that’s possible and to reduce the amount of waste in general.
Conclusion
By following these 5 tips you’ll be on the right track of creating a truly eco-friendly office. But by doing this you won’t only get a chance to contribute in saving and protecting our planet – you’ll also notice some productivity and creativity boosts in your employees. This only shows that opting for environmentally-friendly offices can not only save you money but can also help you generate more income in the end. Just remember that these green offices are about the future – and if we all don’t play our cards the right way now, the future will be very uncertain for all of us.
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