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Many companies now, all across the spectrum are taking steps to reduce their environmental impact and they are doing this by trying to create workplaces and staff that are more environmentally aware. At the moment, many businesses just play lip service to the notion of protecting the environment and they need to do a lot more. We all work in a shared workplace and our policies towards the environment have a direct impact on how successful the business is going to be. More customers are very aware of the environment and so they turn to companies to make sure that they have policies in place that have the environment in mind. Customers will vote with their feet if you haven’t implemented anything and so it makes sound business sense to make a statement about what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.
In order for your business to be more eco-conscious, it needs to start at the bottom with your general workforce and it is up to you as the owner of the company or the manager, to get your employees to believe in what your vision is with regards to the best environmental practices. There are a number of cost-effective measures that your business can put into place to reduce your overall carbon footprint. Here are some tips on how you can create a more environmentally aware workplace.
– Implement a clean water program –
If your business is one that deals in a lot of mechanics and machinery, then there is going to be a lot of oil and other fluids being spilled onto the floor and they will end up in the drainage system. To make sure that none of this goes on to damage groundwater and living things, it makes sense to install an oil water separator which is specially designed so that water and other dangerous liquids like oil can be properly separated in an environmentally responsible way.
– Introduce a recycling program –
Every business should try to implement such a program for their business and achieve all areas of the kitchen area to all workspaces as well. You need to educate your employees on responsible waste disposal and one way to do that is to provide your staff with clear signs and waste stations and recycling bins so they can discard their unwanted items. You might also want to look into the safe disposal of old electrical items like computers and refrigerators.
– Encourage a paperless office –
Everything has pretty much gone digital nowadays in the modern workplace, so it doesn’t make sense to keep printing on paper endlessly. You should be encouraging your employees to scan important documents and to send them to each other by email or other messaging services. This will contribute greatly to a reduction in paper use and ink as well. This is one surefire way to reduce your carbon footprint in the office. To learn more about using less paper and recycling, there are various government websites that help.
These are only three of the things that you can do to make your workplace more environmentally aware and there are many more. You could also introduce a re-using policy where you encourage staff to bring mugs to the office for their coffee instead of using polystyrene and paper cups all the time.
