The corporate world is a major aspect of each one of our lives. People spend more time at work than they do with their family or friends. As the pressure to compete increases, the need to create a sustainable workplace grows even more. A sustainable environment is important to make a long stressful workday more relaxed and productive.

Corporate organizations have the biggest role in this regard. Eco-sustainability has become one of the biggest concerns of the corporate world today. Be it industrial or technological, every company is a contributor to global warming and pollution. However, these companies also have the capabilities that allow for designing a workplace that contributes to environmental sustainability. These capabilities include incentives and opportunities that can reverse the damage caused to the ecosystems. 

There are various ways companies can create a more sustainable work environment for example using renewable sources of energy and use such initiatives that sustain the environment. In this article, we are going to discuss a few tips necessary to create a sustainable workplace environment. 

So let’s dig in. 

What is a sustainable workplace?

Sustainability is not just important to conserve the environment. It is a great way to bring together your employees to create an ideal work culture. A sustainable culture promotes productivity and work-life balance. Workplace sustainability has a positive impact not only on the environment but also on the customers and employees. 

Creating a sustainable workplace is important to create happier employees. Satisfied employees are important for a business’s success. An eco-friendly workplace boosts productivity, creates a less stressful atmosphere, and reduces illness-related leaves. 

Creating a sustainable work environment requires ground-level planning. First of all, you need to assure that everyone working in your organization understands and truly believes in eco-friendly values and practices. 

The benefits of eco-sustainability go beyond the environment. It is also a great way to better manage the cost of running a business, improve employee health and grab the attention of the eco-aware customers. Most customers choose eco-friendly brands over the rest. 

How do you create a sustainable workplace?

Following are some of the best way to make your workplace even more sustainable:

1. Promote recycling:

Recycling is the first and the most obvious step of creating a sustainable workplace. You can promote recycling in your workspace by launching an office recycling program. You can kick start this program by installing recycling bins all-around your workspace including cabins, kitchens, and common rooms. 

You can encourage more people to recycle by posting recycling reminders with the commercial recycling bins. Make sure every employee is aware of the recycling program. You can send reminder emails each week to keep everyone on track. Create a set of recycling policies everyone on board has to follow. 

Another eco-friendly solution you can implement in the workplace is to sell used electronics, like computers, laptops, or old phones lying around the office. Your company can earn some extra money while freeing up storage space. This also gives unused IT equipment a second life, keeping them away from landfills for several years. 

Try selling your items via PCLiquidations.com, a reliable US-based distributor of refurbished IT equipment that has been around since 1991. The entire process is fast and convenient. Simply send them your list of items, and they will provide you with a competitive bid. They will even shoulder the shipping! 

Payment is then processed after the items have been received and evaluated. You can also rest assured of your privacy, as the company wipes out data on your devices before refurbishing and selling them.

2. Reduce the consumption of electricity:

Saving electricity does much more than helping with your bills. It is also one of the best ways to conserve the environment. In most workplaces, machinery and lights are unnecessarily used. This adds to the growing pollution as well as your electricity bills. It causes sustainability to diminish. 

You can promote electricity conservation in your workplace by introducing eco-friendly practices including energy management campaigns. You can also place stickers around the power supply or switchboards to encourage employees to turn off the light when not used. 

You can go a step further and install automatic lights with motion sensors to conserve electricity in the workspace. You can also arrange regular cleanups for the dirty machinery that cause more energy consumption. 

3. Ask employees to bike or ride to the office:

There are various benefits of asking your employees to walk or bike to work. It not only promotes eco-sustainability but also keeps them in good shape. It is also financially sound. 

You can encourage more employees to ride bikes or walk to work by offering them incentives at the end of the month in the form of recognition, prizes, or cash bonuses. You can launch a wellness program where the eco-friendly efforts of the employees are acknowledged and rewarded. 

4. Paperless documentation:

Most eco-aware companies are planning or on their way to becoming completely paperless. However, cutting out paper is not as easy as it seems. If your organization is one of them, you need to introduce systems for paper recycling. 

Print the paper on both sides. If you print out important documents on paper, you should get in touch with a shredding company that recycles paper after destroying important information. 

5. Make your workplace greener:

Brighten up the interior of your office with indoor plants. According to research, adding living plants to the workplace makes employees happier and more active. It increases productivity to up to 15% and improves memory. 

Plants also actively produce oxygen, reducing air pollution. They make the indoor atmosphere more breathable and cleaner. Evenly install potted plants around your office to provide everyone with the benefits of a clean and green environment. 

6. Carefully choose your suppliers:

Various supply chains constitute a business. To create a more eco-sustainable workplace environment, you need to audit all of your suppliers for the environmental impact. If you want to curb pollution, you should buy repurposed or preloved office essentials including computers, printers, and coffee makers. 

For instance, if you want to add a new printer to your office make sure that it will satisfy your needs and will not take up a huge place. Despite the fact that today we are trying to make all documents digital, sometimes we need to have some of them on paper. For being more eco-friendly and sustainable it is a great option to have a multifunctional office printer, which will replace not only the printer but also the copier, scanner and fax machine. However, if you want to become a successful advertising company you can take a look at large format printers and find the best fit for your business. This will let you print large boards and you can offer your customers high-quality billboards.

Sustainability should be your priority when it comes to choosing vendors and suppliers. Choose those electricity suppliers who produce it from renewable resources. Choose the cafeteria food-service that packs food items in compostable packing and provides more vegetarian options. You may also buy a vending machine with healthy food items for much easier access to food.

7. Use as much natural light as you can:

While choosing a place to build your office, choose a space illuminated with natural light. This will reduce your electricity consumption. If that’s not possible, try to use light colors in your workspace and place mirrors around the space to enhance the light you get. 

Using natural light as much as possible has a variety of health benefits. It keeps your employees healthy and maintains a fresh atmosphere most of the day. 

 Wrapping up! 

If you are committed to conserving the environment, you should adopt eco-friendly habits. Since an organization is composed of various individuals, it is ideal to encourage your workers to opt for eco-friendly practices. You can launch wellness programs and initiatives to make that happen. Send regular reminders to keep the entire team on track with eco-friendly practices.