Ten Tips for a Greener Workplace

Here's an article I wrote about greening the workplace for Alternative Apparel's Rethink Earth Campaign.

The United States makes up about five percent of the world’s population, but we use 25 percent of the world’s resources and create 40 percent of the world’s waste. It’s not surprising, then, that our businesses are the biggest contributors to this environmental footprint. Thus, a new measure for business success has taken hold, referred to as the triple bottom line, which takes into account not only financial performance, but social and environmental performance as well. Taking steps to create a green workplace has a number of benefits. A green workplace often has healthier and happier employees, increased job satisfaction and productivity and reduced absenteeism. Involving employees in the process promotes leadership, personal investment and pride in the office environment. Moreover, being eco-friendly connects a business to the local community, which in turn increases awareness of the company. Here are ten tips for going green in the workplace.

1. Implement a "grab a glass" policy.  Get rid of plastic water bottles in the office. Americans spend upwards of $15 billion a year on bottled water with no clear health benefit.  According to the NRDC, government and industry estimates indicate that about 25–30 percent of the bottled water sold in the United States actually comes from a city’s or town’s tap water. So filtered water is just as safe, if not safer, than bottled water. Instead, have a filtered water station and grab a glass, which can be refilled throughout the day.  This will reduce trash, save money and promote sustainability.

2. Decorate the office with plants.  Not only do plants brighten up a workspace with color, but they also clean the air, absorbing toxins and CO while increasing oxygen.  This improves indoor air quality, creating a healthier work environment.

3. Use green cleaning products.  This will help improve indoor air quality and reduce toxins in the workplace. Commercial cleaning often involves toxic chemicals, which are released into the air and are then absorbed into our bodies.  These chemicals cause serious health problems as well as infiltrate our water supply.  Green cleaning products are less toxic and healthier for janitorial staff and all employees, thus creating a healthier work environment.

4. Check and maintain heating and air conditioning systems regularly.  According to the EPA, our air quality is two to five times worse indoors than outdoors.  A great deal of dust and toxins find their way into our HVAC systems and we breathe them in all day as air is circulated throughout the office space.  It is imperative to make sure ducts are sealed and filters are changed regularly in order to reduce health issues among employees, especially for offices that do not engage in natural ventilation, such as opening windows.  Reducing air leakage in ducts will also result in increased energy efficiency and save money on energy bills.

5. Create a paperless office.  Review office practices and assess if printing is necessary.  When printing is unavoidable, always print double-sided and use 100 percent post-consumer waste FSC-certified recycled paper. This way, you know the paper is certified to be produced from sustainable resources.  As demand for recycled paper products increases, prices are going down.  Also, there are now paper products made without using any wood fiber at all.

6. Create a ride-sharing program.  A great way to reduce personal and corporate carbon emissions is to support a ridesharing program for people to carpool to work.  Reward those employees that partake in the program with optimal parking spaces, or create an in-office contest with prizes.  You should also reward employees that use public transportation and/or ride their bikes to work.

7. Provide healthy snacks in the office.  Offer fresh fruit and healthy snacks to employees, rather than processed food that is high in sugar and fat.  Healthy snacks promote productivity.  Also consider getting snacks from a farmers’ market to support local farmers and businesses.

8. Create energy efficiency polices.  All devices and electrical equipment including lights, computers and printers should be turned off completely at the end of the day.  When equipment is put in "sleep" mode, it still uses energy, which is called phantom energy.  Consider energy-efficient lighting and appliances.  Smart strips and energy control systems can be useful to help with reducing phantom power and wasted energy loads.

9. Reduce, reuse, recycle.  If you receive a lot of packaged items, reuse the packaging materials whenever possible.  Reduce trash loads by implement a recycling program so that all paper, plastic, styrofoam, glass, cardboard, etc. is recycled on a regular basis.  Provide each office with a small recycling bin for easy access.  Contact your trash hauler to find out more about starting a recycling program if your office building doesn’t currently have recycling.

10. Offset the company’s carbon emissions.  It’s important to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible.  For most businesses, cutting down carbon emissions is still a work in progress, as employees travel to meet with customers and energy is used on a daily basis.  Offsetting carbon emissions is a way to reduce your environmental impact until you can reduce emissions completely.  Organizations like Carbon Fund for example, provide an easy process for businesses and individuals to offset their carbon emissions.

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