The green revolution is in full swing, even in office land. In this blog, we treat you to 12 tips for giving substance to (more) sustainability in the office. It is not that complicated; with a few simple steps, your office will become a lot greener. Green entrepreneurship is no longer the preserve of a small elite group of entrepreneurs. Nowadays, we are all aware of the fact that sustainability is not a luxury but a necessity, also at the office.
Maybe you have already taken steps; maybe you still have some way to go.
Whatever the case, we would like to help you on your way to the green office with these 11 tips.
Choose sustainable paper
There are sustainable alternatives for almost all office supplies.
If you choose green office products, you have already made an important first step for the environment. Starting with paper. Because choosing sustainable paper is an easy step to make your contribution.
Print green
Choose sustainable toners and cartridges for your printer. In this blog you will read that they are not only sustainable and environmentally friendly but also significantly more economical: Choosing sustainable toner means considerable savings on printing costs.
Fairtrade and tasty
Your coffee break can be green, too. Fill the cupboards of your coffee corner with Fair Trade coffee and tea.
Green storage
What about environmentally-friendly binders and ring binders? A great alternative and a particularly simple way to leave a green footprint.
Carefree use is the new way to own
Are you about to buy new sustainable office furniture? Then you can traditionally opt for ownership with all the associated costs and worries. But you can also decide to lease the office furniture instead of buying it yourself. Carefree use instead of ownership. And that could be very interesting.
Ditch flawed flooring
It can be easy to forget about the office premises themselves, but if your flooring receives some heavy foot traffic, it could be time to upgrade next time it’s replaced. Worn-out carpets and linoleum are regularly replaced by busy offices, and can’t be recycled easily. A durable hardwood solution such as parquet flooring, however, will last several times longer than both and is unlikely to need replacing again.
Be economical with paper
Use less paper and if you do use it, do it consciously: print double-sided, use old sheets for notes or take them home for the children to draw on or do crafts on.
Draw a line through many small orders
Collect as many (online) orders as possible and place larger orders in one go.
This is not only good for your wallet (you don’t pay any delivery costs), it is also better for the environment and therefore sustainable: less packaging material is needed and the courier has to make fewer trips (which means fewer emissions and less fuel).
Print economically and save ink
Ink for your printer is expensive, but its production is also a burden on the environment. So print economically and save ink. First of all, try printing less. But you can also set your printer to print in black and white by default. Another solution is to choose an energy-efficient font. Ecofont is the most economical and green font and you can download it here.
Switch off lights and computers
Don’t leave unnecessary lights on anywhere, for example in rooms that are not being used. Use low-energy light bulbs or LED lamps in rooms where continuous light is required. And don’t forget to switch off all the lights after work. This also applies to computers. A PC on stand-by all night consumes as much energy as making 30 cups of coffee… That’s quite a lot on an annual basis.
Cleaner cleaning
While your desk and toilet are shining, the environment is being polluted by chemical cleaning products. So opt for cleaner cleaning and use products with biodegradable and natural ingredients.
Recharge batteries
It is of course better and more environmentally friendly to use rechargeable batteries; it is cheaper, you save energy and you protect the environment (less waste). Rechargeable batteries are more expensive to buy, but you’ll earn them back after six recharges on average. Don’t forget that you can recharge rechargeable batteries up to 1000 times.
Limit the number of subscriptions
Let’s talk about newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Have you been subscribing to several newspapers and magazines for years? Then take a good look at which ones are really necessary. Of course, it is nice if guests can read something while they are waiting for their appointment, but is it really necessary to offer so many different newspapers or magazines about the GR20 route or Dolomites Hiking?
Good luck with our tips. Doing so will go a long way towards making your office greener. And don’t forget, many of these tips will also make you money. That’s a win-win situation that will make you happy.