The accelerated rate of deterioration of the environment requires taking measures to take care of it. For this, it is not only important to take care of the environment at home, but also at work. Most likely, you spend most of your day at work, so it is important to learn actions that can be taken to create a better world or simply to make your company more sustainable.
If this interests you, in this Green Ecologist article we will tell you some actions so that you learn how to take care of the environment at work.
How to take care of the environment at work
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, it is vital to know how pollution affects the environment, and in case you are curious to know more details we will explain them in this other post, because it is something that affects the entire planet and that includes us. What is the use of worrying about a business or day to day in general if we accelerate the destruction of the planet? So, it is better to opt for collaborate in caring for the environment, from small and simple gestures to other more complex forms.
Although at first it may not seem like it, it is not necessary to carry out large actions to take care of the environment in our work, but each one can contribute a small part. These actions are applicable whether you are employed or self-employed. Some of these simple actions are as follows.
Turn off appliances
Normally, in an office (especially with many workers) there is a large quantity of electrical appliances that are plugged in and remain idle when not in use: screens, computers, printers, routers, microwaves, etc.
Ideally, turn them off when they are not used or will be unused for a long time, as well as measure to take care of the environment as when it comes to saving energy and money. Although there are some devices such as servers that must always be plugged in, most devices do can be unplugged. To facilitate this task, power strips can be used to connect multiple appliances.
Optimize the use of printers
Printers consume large amounts of ink and paper, but there are some things you can do to control and optimize the use of printers.
One of these is to print in black and white whenever possible, print on both sides, recycle ink and cartridges, or use multifunction printers (they save energy). With these actions, in addition to taking care of the environment, you will save important resources.
Monitor the lighting
In a workplace there are rooms that are not used all the time, such as meeting rooms, kitchen or bathrooms, so they must be turn off the lights when the rooms are empty.
Another action related to this is to do use of natural light whenever possible, opening blinds and windows to reduce the use of artificial light.
If you have to use artificial light in your office or workplace, of all the bulbs, we recommend LED bulbs. Get to know here the ecological LED lighting to take care of the environment.
Take care of saving water at work
Close the taps while brushing your teeth or lathering your hands, as it tends to be left open and a lot of water is wasted. At work you can take this into account, as well as install water fountains with filter and regulator of the water jet, the more possibilities.
Optimize the use of paper in the office
One of the most consumed materials in a job is paper. In order to use less paper a good idea is reuse as much paper as possible, review the documents before printing or recycle the paper by depositing it in its specific container.
Another option is use the "digital paper" as e-mails or documents in digital format, whenever possible.
Monitor the climate at work
A good insulation in the workplace it will allow us to better use air conditioning and heating. In addition, with this you will be able to increase the temperature in winter and reduce it in summer. You can even choose to prepare the place or office taking into account the bioclimatic architecture.
In this other post from Green Ecologist we will discover the best ecological alternatives to air conditioning.
Plants for the office to help the environment
Plants add a more natural touch to the workplace and also help to reduce pollutants that is in the work environment. The plants that purify the air and those that hold up well or need little direct natural light are ideal for these environments.
There are thousands of options, but at Ecologist Verde we have made a selection of the best in this article about +25 indoor plants that need little light, such as cacti, succulents, some palm trees, etc.
Recycle at work
Work is like a second home where many hours are spent and a lot of waste is generated. This is precisely why it is ideal to place recycling containers to dispose of recyclable items such as organic waste, paper, cans, glass, cardboard or plastic packaging.
Thus, in the kitchen, dining room or common room area, several containers can be placed: yellow, blue, green, gray, brown, etc., according to each type of waste.
Help the environment while you go to work
When it is possible, go to work by bike or doing use of public transport. In addition to benefiting the environment, it is also beneficial for your health.
When there are group trips for work issues, it is always better to organize transport between several taking full advantage of the capacity of private transport and also opting for the public. In this way, it is also possible to reduce fuel consumption and, therefore, pollution.
Conclusion on caring for the environment at work
Not all sectors emit the same levels of pollution. For example, heavy industry (such as chemical or metallurgical) is one of the more aggressive industries with the environment, although it can also be contaminated from an office work. In fact, it is estimated that up to half of the energy consumed in the service sector is made from office buildings.
Although it depends on many factors, individual actions can help reduce environmental degradation, such as the greenhouse effect. Therefore, it is important reduce energy and raw material consumption in the workplace, adopt sustainable habits or minimize pollution and, thus, you will be able to take care of the ecosystem.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to take care of the environment at work, we recommend that you enter our category of Other ecology.
