From a Guest Blogger: Five Tips for Making the Office More Green

Going green is about more than saving the environment. It also helps people lead more productive and healthy lives. This is also true in the office — your employees will work smarter and be happier when you go green. If this sounds appealing to you, take a look at these 5 tips for making your office environmentally friendly.

Set Up a Recycling Program

One of the easiest ways to go green in the office is to implement a recycling program. All you have to do is buy several recycling bins and put them next to all of the garbage cans in your office. Then, every time your employees go to throw something away, they have to make a green decision about whether to recycle or not. If you don’t want to invest in a recycling bin for every cubicle, you can at least get one for the lunch area or break room to cut down on that type of waste.

Promote a Paperless Work Environment

According to conservation.org, paper products make up 40 percent of all solid waste. Your office can help lower this number by going paperless. With tablets, there’s no need to print files anymore. Plus, the cloud lets you access anything you need no matter where you are. So, tell your employees to stop printing things. Besides, filing cabinets take up a lot of space. Your office will look nicer and be more organized if you get rid of the paper clutter and just store everything virtually. This even protects your office from fire and other physical disasters.

When you do need to use paper and other office products, make sure they come from recycled materials. Opt for recycled print cartridges, second-hand printers, and recycled paper. Most paper goes through a chlorination process to make it bright white. Recycled paper that is chlorine free (TCF) is your best green option.

Implement a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy

Another thing you can do to go green is have your employees use their own devices for work. This is typically referred to as a bring your own device (BYOD) policy. It is green because your employees no longer have to carry around a personal phone and a work phone. Plus, you can offer your employees a financial incentive to use their own device. Your business saves money because you don’t have to pay for the entire cellphone plan, and your employees save money because they get help paying for a personal cellphone.

Monitor Your Electricity Use

Energy is a major cost to businesses and not friendly to the environment, especially if you own a large office building that you need to heat during the winter and cool during the summer. Go green and save money at the same time by monitoring your office’s electricity use. You can do this by installing timers on the lights, asking employees to shut down their computers completely before leaving the office, and choosing energy-efficient appliances, light bulbs, and other technology. If you’re looking for really creative ways to save money on electricity, you can try implementing a four-day work week where employees work 10 hours each day. That way you don’t have to use electricity five days a week.

Allow Some Employees to Work from Home

To save money on power and to reduce fossil fuel emissions, your office can go green by going virtual. By letting some employees work from home, you won’t need as big of an office and the environment will benefit because there will be fewer cars on the road. If it’s not feasible for some employees to work from home, promote the use of public transit by offsetting fare costs and locating your office near a convenient transit stop.

This is just a small sampling of the things you can do to go green at the office. Make a plan and start following it today. Your employees will be more productive and happy. Plus, these new habits will transfer to their home life to start making the world a better place.