Sustainability has emerged as an important necessity for our biosphere and every living being that inhabits it. This has become especially relevant in the 21st century, where future generations are at risk of facing the harsh consequences as a result of our actions today.
Businesses, companies, organizations, and even start ups today have begun to heed to the call of bringing sustainability into their own workplaces, – to reduce their own unfavorable impacts on natural ecosystems, and encourage a collective sense of environmental consciousness among their employees. A sustainable workplace is thus one that achieves its desired economic outputs without compromising nature around it.
Of course, all of this would be far from achievable without a strong foundation consisting of simple sustainable practices at the ground level. Because even the most basic of steps can have a snowballing effect which leads to overall positive impact to the environment.
The following are some of the many examples of sustainable practices that should be adopted in your workplace, starting today!
Energy conservation
This is as simple as turning off all the lights, fans, office equipment, etc. When not in use – for obvious reasons.
Office equipment tends to consume the most energy, so it would be in the best interest of everyone to switch to more energy efficient alternatives. For example, switching from desktop computers to laptops.
Another great way to significantly minimize the use of electric powered lights is to shift working hours to coincide with the natural sunlight. An example of this could be to have working hours from 9am (when the sun is already out) to 6pm (by which time the sun would start to set).
Finally, conducting an energy audit periodically will help evaluate overall energy efficiency and identify areas where improvement can be seen.
If helping out nature isn’t enough incentive, conserving energy will help greatly in reducing operating costs!
Waste segregation
Garbage has always been a major contributor to environmental pollution – be it soil, water, or even air. One of the most effective ways to curb this problem is segregation.
Segregating waste is crucial for public health (especially in urban areas) because it makes sure that each category of waste doesn’t end up in the wrong place – otherwise, everything would end up in the same big landfill.
The simplest way to segregate garbage at the office is by designating different bins for wet waste, dry waste, recyclable waste, and so on. This is another practice that will require conscious participation of everyone at work.
Going paperless
Paper (and ink) comes under one of the biggest categories of waste generated by companies. With digital technology as developed as it is today, there should be very little to no reason why we should be using so much paper!
Transportation for employees
Even amidst the global pandemic and country wide lockdowns, traffic congestions caused by an overabundance of vehicles on the road continues to be a huge problem. This is one of the biggest contributors to pollution, for reasons that we are all already aware of by now.
Though some companies have provisions to ferry their employees to and from the office, many other companies simply see it as a burden to do so, without even considering the positive implications it will have on employees – and more importantly the environment!
Volunteering programs
Getting directly involved with cleaning up our surroundings will make us even more conscious about our actions towards the environment. And making employees take part in volunteering activities will go a long way in doing so.
Though most of us may feel that cleaning up pavements, picking up bits of trash from the streets, etc. is beneath us, it actually is one of the coolest things someone can do. Plus, it’s far better than sitting and complaining about the ineffectiveness of governments, politicians, etc. – Because every citizen is accountable for his/her city and country.
Sustainability should be an inseparable part of office culture. Not to appear cool to other organisations, but as an act of courtesy for the environment. If each one of us makes the effort to be conscious, then we can leave behind a healthy planet for our future generations.
When it comes to sustainability, we at Just Breathe are constantly looking for ways to inspire and innovate keeping the environment in mind. Our solutions are inspired by nature, with the intent of reconnecting humans to the natural world around them.
About Just Breathe
Just Breathe is an air purifying solution inspired by nature. Our air purification stations are a comprehensive environmental solution to the declining air quality in indoor, windowless workspaces. Equipped with state of the art technology, you can breathe easy knowing that our stations are completely sustainable and leave no carbon footprint!
To know more about our Just Breathe stations for your workspace, visit our homepage at justbreathe.in
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