KEEPING UP TO DATE

Sustainable Business = Dependable Team
National Recycling Week 9 – 15 November 2020

9 November 2020

Summer is just around the corner and for many of us thoughts of last years’ bush fires are front of mind. And with that comes thoughts of our environment and what we can do protect our environment from harm. Although individuals may sometimes feel like their personal contribution is too small to make a difference, by sharing a team goal such as Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week in the office, your team can feel empowered to be part of the solution.

This week (Monday 9 to Sunday 15 November 2020) is a great opportunity for businesses to do their bit for the environment and benefit from a team proud of their company and employer.

Here are just a few great ways your business can make a difference during Recycling Week and beyond!

Considering we spend about a fifth of our lifetime at work, it’s worthwhile thinking about how we can make our workplace better both for ourselves, our team and the environment.

Sustainability in the workplace is much more than using energy-saving bulbs and recycling — it’s a holistic approach to creating a general sense of wellbeing in a workplace that cares for both people and the environment.

Although this might seem a difficult concept to introduce to small and medium size businesses because of the limited resources available, it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Reuse, Reduce and Recycle

Big changes start with small steps. Motivate your team to change their everyday habits in favour of eco-friendly choices.

Replace disposable coffee cups with reusable mugs, if you don’t already have them arrange recycling bins, encourage employees to consider printing less and set your printer default to automatically print both sides and use the eco settings to save ink. If every business made just these small changes, it would have a significant impact on the waste generated by business.

Create Green Spaces

Having plants in your indoor environment will help clean the air and improve the general mood – and of course it will make the office look prettier. Encouraging your employees to take care of the plants will make them feel more responsible and involved.

Working from Home and Flexible Working Options

Although I’m naturally an optimist, I still find it hard to say that any positive has come out of COVID. This has been a challenging year on so many fronts. However, one of the few positives is that Business which had previously struggled with the idea of remote working and flexible working hours have embraced flexible working conditions, Working from Home options and replacing work travel with Virtual Meetings. These changes have already significantly reduced carbon emissions on the commute to work and work-related meetings.

Now as thing transition back to a more traditional model of office work, there is good reason for all of us to thing about the real reason for attending the office everyday and if it is really necessary.

Office Supplies Awareness

We provide a lot of supplies to our teams to ensure they can be effective in their roles. Ensuring that our choices are not overly packaged or come from recycled options is important. One of my recent purchases had 4 layers of wrapping on it. Literally – Overkill for the environment. I’ll try a different brand next time to reduce the packaging.

Get Them Involved

Get creative with your team building activities – ever thought about organising a gardening workshop or a green week challenge for your team? Sunny windows in the office might make a perfect mini herb patch?

Your team’s involvement is key to making the changes stick (and it helps your team stick around too). Motivate them to take part in eco-friendly initiatives such as managing the kitchen waste smartly, taking part in Australian Recycling Week and consider ride or walk to work schemes.

Walk to Work Schemes aren’t always about walking the whole distance to the office. For the vast majority it is getting off public transport a stop of two before they normally would and walking the rest of the distance. It is great for their fitness and wellbeing and has the added benefit of being good for the environment.

Manage Your Office’s Energy Consumption

Keeping the energy levels of your office equipment under control is useful, especially when it comes to reducing your electricity bills. Ask your team to switch off their equipment and shut everything down during long weekends and holiday periods.

When buying new laptops and technology equipment for the office, make sure you do some research beforehand and choose the best energy efficient items within your price range.

Once your equipment is out of use, recycle it to minimise landfill. We have a list of great charities that recycle laptops for students who can’t afford them and provide start-up technology for migrants who are newly arrived in Australia and setting up their own micro-businesses.

Acting Local

Transport and energy impacts are reduced considerably when you buy locally made products. Have you ever thought about where the tea and coffee you buy come from? By buying local products you will decrease production costs and you will support local companies who may have struggled this year as export industries have been hit due to COVID.

Sharing is Caring

Having a sustainable working environment also means saving financial resources that could be invested somewhere else within the business. Encourage your employees to share their ideas about how to save energy in the office and attract more socially engaged customers. Make sure you reward the ones who have the best ideas – even better with something eco-friendly such as a plant or a reusable coffee mug.

Even if you only pick one simple thing to do this year, it all adds up to a big difference. This year’s theme is ‘Recovery – A future beyond the bin’. A future beyond the bin – Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week 2020 video can be watched here.

And if you would like assistance to implement any of these a call is all it takes to get started.

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KEEPING UP TO DATE

Sustainable Business = Dependable TeamNational Recycling Week 9 – 15 November 2020

9 November 2020

Sustainable Business = Dependable Team
National Recycling Week 9 – 15 November 2020