Keep ‘em Mean, Keep ‘em Green—The Future Office

(Note: One of our 2GreenEnergy supporters in the UK asked me to publish this piece for her; I happily complied. – ed)

It’s difficult to think of a time when being environmentally friendly was in the same league as being some mad, Manson-like hippy who rubbed mud all over themselves instead of showering – but it really was only a few decades ago.

Indeed, according to national newspaper The Guardian, a concept as simple as the paperless office was deemed ridiculous just four decades ago. Even as late as 2003 a study was published entitled The Myth of the Paperless Office.

Yet times change and, thanks to the wonders of email and increasingly speedy internet connections, offices are shedding A4 sheets like a snake sheds its skin – paper consumption is at its lowest on record.

Add to this the decreasing price of green energy (solar cells have fallen below $1/watt) and your office turning eco-friendly becomes more beneficial by the day.

So what else can you abandon and implement to make your office greener?

Old gas connections

Some gas connections, especially in older builds, are as eco-friendly as a sputtering Victorian workhouse – and they’re killing the green dreams of your office.

But there are a ton of companies that can install new gas connections, making the flow of gas cleaner and more efficient. Although this could force your premises into taking downtime, the cost-saving benefits you’ll reap in the long run will make it worth the expense.

Waste not, want not

It’s easy to look at used paper, empty printer cartridges and aging computers as little more than trash fit for the skip. But if you’re creating an eco-office, turning these tiny bits of waste into worth again can spell the difference between a large carbon footprint and a small one.

Change your printer settings to print on both sides of the page, refill printer cartridges and sell or donate old computer parts to recycling centres if you want to save money and the planet.

Get employees in the game

You might be the Second Coming in recycling terms, but if your employees aren’t in the same boat then your carbon footprint will lag behind worse than a morbidly obese hare against an eco-powered turtle.

So how do you get them involved? One of the most effective ways is to gamify your recycling program.

Set up league tables for every employee, ranking them on their ability to stay green, rewarding the winner after six months of hard effort.

The main obstacle to employees’ recycling habits is awareness, so notify them on a regular basis and you’ll find the eco-friendliness of your workplace won’t just be up to today’s standards – it’ll be looking to the future.