7 Fantastic Ways to Have an Eco Friendly Office

fantastic ways to have eco friendly office

The world today is paying more attention to the environment than at any other time in history. With the climate changes and activism that has accompanied it, individuals and organizations are going to great lengths to adopt eco-friendly living. If you’re one of the innovative startups in London, take inspiration from Global Organizations that go through eco-friendly office culture. According to the Green Living blog, for office owners, a lot can be done to ensure that their office adopts an eco-friendly approach to all operations. Here are the top 7 fantastic ways to have an eco friendly office that you have always wanted.

7 Fantastic Ways to Have an Eco Friendly Office

1. Aim for a paperless office

You should try keeping things digital. This way, you will find out that the number and pieces of documents in your office have gradually reduced. Save files in your computer rather than having them pile up in the office cabinets. Ensure less printing is going on and ask for e-statements rather than invoices and paperwork. Use lighter and thinner papers if the need for documents is. Decide what should and should not print, and this means that not all documents require a hard copy.

2. Use natural light

Relying more on natural light ensures that less energy is being consumed. Besides, your office will eventually get that natural look. Ever realized how beautiful natural light is? And how much you can rely on it for long, probably all day long? And how much it helps you save on electricity bills at the end of the month; this gives you all the reason to appreciate this gift of nature. Open or close windows instead of using air conditioners; this will help get that lovely eco feeling.

3. Introduce a desk plant

You might consider introducing a desk plant to have the indoor aesthetics improved as well as bring some clean air. This is completed by a flower on the desk, which does not have to be big and exaggerated; something small, presentable, and unique will give your office the natural look that you desire. Plants play a significant role in freshening up air since plants release oxygen.

4. Embrace renewable energy:

Renewable energy is easy to acquire and much more reliable than hydro generated power. This is energy gotten directly from nature, it’s pure and non-hazardous. It includes solar energy and wind power energy, which are very green, safe, efficient, and accessible everywhere.

5. Always remember to unplug your electronics:

It is not enough to power down your device. Electrical appliances still consume power when plugged in. Therefore, you should always remember to unplug your office appliances before leaving the office. This will help you save energy and acquire the eco-friendly office wish.

6. Encourage different commuting methods:

Do you ask yourself how much damage exhaust from vehicles cause to our environment? And how good it’d be if you try changing your mode of commuting or getting to work? Well, try sharing cars with colleagues, use buses once in a while to work, sometimes walk to work, or even use a bicycle.

7. Reduce Waste

The most common office wastes are paper and printing products, office equipments, and other miscellaneous wastes. Make sure you have alternatives for such waste generated. Go through the Guide on Office Waste Management. Beyond the limit, if your office still exists with wastes don’t hesitate to contact us, as we are a leading commercial waste collection company in London.

Summary

Most people spend about one-third of their life working, which in most instances, is generally in the office. This can make you completely oblivious and lack more awareness of what surrounds you and what important role it plays in your living.

With time, the knowledge of how beautiful nature gradually builds the desire of drawing it closer to you, and as a result, the eco-friendly office look comes in handy. Your office having the natural look makes you appear useful to your potential employees and business partners. SO GO GREEN.

Guide for Office Waste Management

Managing of office waste is vital, it helps boost productivity and boost employee morale. It also helps save money, improve profitability, and reducing tax obligations. Customers and employees aim to preserve the environment and limit the amount of waste; a solid waste management plan needs to be in place. Here is the guide for office waste management; before that, It is essential to understand the office waste hierarchy before developing the strategy.

Office Waste hierarchy

It is an approach to managing waste within an organization. It illustrates the most effective ways of managing waste and disposal methods, in terms of which is best for the environment. The different options, from the most to least desirable are as below;

Avoid the use of a product

It may involve reviewing the current practices or looking for opportunities to automate processes.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Reducing includes; double-sided printing, buying what you need, etc. Reusing involves the items in the office instead of throwing them away like reusing paper printed on one side as notepads. The recycling rate is vital to improve in an office and reduce the waste you send to landfill. To succeed at this, sort the products in specific waste streams and ensure after separating them, they are not contaminated.

Recover

There is waste which you cannot prevent, reuse, or recycle. However, some of these may have value in the form of recoverable energy or other by-products. It will prevent some negative GHG impacts of disposing of the waste in landfill. There are different processes of recovering the additional value of garbage. Some extract energy directly, and others convert the waste in various types of fuel to use later. The procedures may include anaerobic digestion and thermal treatment.

Landfill

It involves disposing of the waste in the ground through a dug hole. It is essential to do this safely and send the landfill waste to a licensed facility. This needs to be the last option.

Guide for Office Waste Management

There are some activities that you need to deliver an office waste management plan successfully. They include;

Gathering data

For you to have a strong office waste management strategy, you will need to measure the improvements against the initial performance. It involves quantifying the current waste from each office. You will also need to provide a baseline to measure success. It helps to identify offices that have an above-average amount of garbage.

There are some sources available on carrying out waste audits. They will give information on office waste and the possible disposal routes for the standard waste streams. Office managers can use them to develop their format to measure and report misuse that suits the requirements of the organization.

Identifying the options available for waste reduction:

The waste reduction strategy needs to reflect on the findings of baseline waste information. The priorities usually differ from the offices. The measures of reducing waste are in two categories namely;

Raising of waste awareness and encourage people to reduce waste:

This may involve;

Introduce waste as a performance measure for managers.
To update staffs regularly on waste and recovery rates.
Changing of products, technologies, and processes to prevent any wastage.

Some examples of this approach include:

Maximize on using electronic media to communicate
Set the default settings for the printer to be double-sided prints.

3. Determining the segregation and storage strategy

The waste audit indicates the waste streams in the office, and this is the basis for a segregation strategy. The most common waste streams include; paper, toner cartridges, plastic cups, stationery, and electrical equipment.

4. Set the targets

All good waste targets will meet the SMART criteria such that they are;

Specific – It states the extent of wastes and activities to include.
Measurable – They are clear on how to measure the progress.
Achievable – It needs to reflect on the finding of the baseline survey and must emanate from the external benchmarks or national targets.
Relevant – It must consider any impacts on the actions the organization will take.
Timely – It needs to have a date of achieving the target.

5. Appointing a waste management company:

The primary role of the waste removal company is to collect and process waste streams, who follow all the legal procedures of waste removal. They may also provide other services in assisting the office manager in the implementation and reporting of the strategy like;

Quality audits to ensure no contamination of segregated waste.
To confirm the destinations of waste streams.

Contact the waste removal company and get immediate clarification on all doubts over office waste management.

6. Monitoring the progress:

It is the final step in implementing an office waste management strategy. It involves calculating and reporting the results. The office waste disposal will provide these data;

The volume of waste that was collected by the stream.
The waste recovery rate.

Conclusion

Having a proper waste management plan does not have to be. There are information and guidance for managing office waste. It is necessary to prioritize the critical sources of waste. For the strategy to succeed, the following are essential;

An informed workforce.
Collection and separating facilities.
A waste contractor’s guidance.
To monitor and report the progress to individually responsible for the targets.