Caring for the environment reduces monthly expenses, boosts company reputation, and produces less waste in the office. While these benefits seem like a dream for your business, swapping old habits into more eco-friendly ones helps you achieve a greener working space. Begin your journey to a sustainable workspace as you read more of this article. 

How to go green inside your workplace

Make a sustainable workspace by putting these eco-friendly practices into action.

1. Make your space greener, literally

Putting plants in the office boosts people’s moods, adds color to an otherwise ordinary space, and improves the air quality. And when your employees breathe clean air, you’re saving them from terrible sick days. Low-maintenance plants like snake plants, aloe, and oxalis brighten your office space since they need little water and sunlight to survive. Just don’t forget to tend to them once in a while.

2. Minimize paper usage 

Cutting usage of papers will save trees, electricity, and money in buying them from stores. Paper production requires cutting trees and using lots of energy in factories to make paper. Deforestation from tree cutting and gas emissions from  factories make the world hotter. 

Go paperless by emailing announcements, notices, documents, and receipts to your employees. This reduces the need to print every piece of document, which saves power, ink, and the paper waste you give to nature.

3. Label trash cans properly

Put labels on trash cans clearly and use a separate color for each kind of trash to segregate waste. Biodegradable trash includes leftover food and paper. Non-biodegradable wastes are plastic, electronics, batteries, and wires. Compostable waste includes coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, and shredded paper. Provide a separate trash can for broken glass and infectious waste like blood-stained cotton and used tissue paper.

4. Use recyclable packaging

Switch to recyclable packaging like corn starch bags over single-use plastic for your office packaging needs. These bags made of corn starch are a good alternative packaging to plastic and are ideal for packing food and other common items. They also decompose within six months. Single-use plastics end up in landfills and oceans and can threaten wildlife on both land and water. Recyclable packaging allows you to use the same thing again and again before you discard it for good.

5. Let employees bring reusable bottles

Plastic drinking bottles, like any other piece of plastic, add to the mounting plastic problem. So instead of buying bottles of drinking water for the workplace, get your employees to use metal water bottles. This helps minimize the plastic waste your office generates every single day and is a low-key reminder to employees to stay hydrated all the time. 

6. Craft policies for hybrid and/or remote work 

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced most people to work remotely. As the restrictions slowly eased, some companies are calling employees back to work in the office. And as more people drive to work, more greenhouse gasses are emitted into the atmosphere, contributing to pollution and global warming. Daily commute alone contributes to air pollution and energy-related greenhouse gasses by 34% in our country. 

Implementing hybrid and remote work policies helps reduce harmful emissions from commuting and reallocate money for rent and utilities. Provide your employees with every piece of equipment they need to carry out their tasks. Strike an agreement with them regarding work productivity and schedule, whether it’s hybrid or remote work. Add perks like a monthly internet allowance, more paid days off, and online training programs to keep your employees happy and engaged. 

Need some plastic-free packaging? Get them at Oikos

Saving the environment through little eco-friendly adjustments in the workplace is a lot of work at the beginning. As these actions turn into habits, you can say that you did your part in preserving the only home we have. 

Oikos Sustainable Solutions provide 100% plastic-free, plant-based, and biodegradable packaging for business, such as corn starch bags and cassava bags. You can use and rebrand our products to fit the needs of a sustainable workspace. Moreover, Oikos is the only sustainable packaging brand in the country to receive an Environmental Technology Verification from the Department of Science and Technology. Finally, take the leap to becoming a sustainable business in the Philippines and browse our products here.