It is up to everybody to reduce their carbon footprint and try to limit their impact on the environment. Since a company is bigger than an individual, the results when they take an initiative to go green can be massive. When it includes the employees it’s magnified even further. Together they can make quite a difference and if every company were to do so then we could possibly turn around the effects of climate change.
Luckily, there are many options for a company to choose from to be able to take on this initiative. Since most employees will be eager to do their part it shouldn’t take much convincing them to get on board. In this article, we will go over the ways that a company can join forces with its employees to lower its carbon footprint.
1 – Provide green devices
Many companies offer devices to their employees so they can work efficiently and effectively. This means that there are a lot of potentially new devices that are bought and add to the impact on the environment. Since technology requires a lot of rare earth minerals, it is destructive to the environment since they have to be mined.
Instead of adding to the problem, provide them with refurbished devices. It is possible to get many newer models that are just as good as new ones that will not require any damage to the environment.
There are also many companies that are looking for ways to offset the damage done by manufacturing and shipping their smartphones and tablets. Companies like Green Smartphones will plant trees to absorb the same amount of carbon dioxide that is emitted during the manufacturing and shipping of the devices so they end up being carbon neutral. If you were to buy from companies such as these then you will help keep your carbon footprint manageable.
2 – Encourage lower emissions commuting
When you have hundreds of employees all coming to the office in their cars, the carbon dioxide released is enormous. It puts tons of it into the atmosphere every year. By taking those cars off of the road you can make sure that your employees are not adding to the fossil fuel problem.
There are a number of incentives that you can offer to get them off of the road in salary sacrifices. For instance, in place of a raise, you can give some employees the use of a company electric vehicle. If there is no other way for them to get to the office aside from a car then using an electric car will lower emissions in a big way.
Others may be agreeable to the company paying for their rail pass if they can take the train to work. Others may be close enough to ride a bicycle and paying for an electric one for them to use will be appreciated.
3 – Start a recycling program
Recycling is a great way to take a lot of material out of landfills to keep them from growing. The best way to have a big effect is to work together and do it in large numbers. Having a recycling program at work will work well since you are harnessing the power of numbers through your employees.
Not only should the company have a program in which trash is separated so that much of it can be recycled, but there should also be a recycling drive held regularly. This means that workers should be able to bring in things from home that they no longer need that can be repurposed or recycled.
Ask them to bring in old electronics so the materials within them can be harvested and used in new devices. Or, they can bring in old clothes that will be donated to charities or recycling companies to be turned into new clothing or material.
4 – Go hybrid working
Many offices no longer need all of their employees to be there in person. Many just need to be there for part of the week. This means that your company should go with a hybrid working situation in which some employees are able to work from home for part of the week or even completely depending on their role.
This will keep cars off the road and will result in less energy used to power up a big office. There is even a huge reduction in paper being used which leads to many offices going paperless since many documents can be sent securely online.
