From cutting plastic use to rethinking your office space, discover six quick ways to make your office more eco friendly
More and more of our decisions as consumers are influenced by the impact of our choices on the environment, as the negative impact of human life on the natural world is becoming clearer and better understood. For example, scientists have discovered single-use plastics in deep-sea trenches, while the World Health Organisation has reported that more than 90% of the global population is affected by toxic air.
So far, less consideration has been given to the impact of our working lives on the environment. But, given that we spend half our waking hours working on a work day, shouldn’t we be doing more to make workplaces and offices more eco-friendly? Here are six ways to make your office more eco-friendly, from easy-to-implement quick fixes to longer-term strategies for change.
How to make your office more eco friendly: six steps to success
1. Remove single-use cups and plastics
Our over-reliance on single-use plastics has been under fire for a number of years, most recently after 2017’s Blue Planet II contained hard-sitting scenes of the damage caused to marine wildlife by plastic.
Employees at accountancy firm KPMG questioned its reliance on plastic cups in the wake of Blue Planet II, leading it to ban plastic cups from water coolers in its UK offices – saving an estimated three million plastic water cups a year. The ban began as a trial in KPMG’s Manchester office, where staff were offered a reusable water bottle provided by the company instead, and the option to ‘rent’ a recyclable cup for 50p a day if required.
KPMG has since distributed 15,000 metal water bottles to employees, and switched to compostable cups at its head office. It has also replaced 250,000 items of plastic cutlery with metal cutlery.
The UK government also introduced new limits on single-use plastic straws and drink stirrers in England in 2019. Make sure you comply by offering reusable straws and reusable or biodegradable stirrers. When making changes, be sure to consider the needs of your disabled workers, some of whom may still need single-use plastics. For example, alternatives to plastic straws may be unsuitable because they’re too strong and may cause injury, or can’t be used above a certain temperature.
2. Cut paper use – or even go paperless
Thousands of office workers’ email signatures have, for years, invited recipients to “consider if you need to print this email”, but we’re still using too much paper at work: it accounts for half of all business waste. Cut down on your usage by:
- Printing double-sided
- Using recycled paper
- Reusing scrap paper for notes
There are also some less obvious – but equally effective – alternatives:
- Budget for incremental paper reduction (as you aim to go paperless)
- Use lighter, thinner paper
- Decide what type of documents should (and shouldn’t) be printed
- Conduct what business you can electronically
- Switch to HR management software to store employee records, for example
If you don’t already, make sure you have recycling bins in your office. This can be either one central place, or bins in areas where they’d be used the most (eg paper recycling by the printer). Make sure bins are emptied regularly, so staff aren’t put off recycling if they’re (seemingly) always full.
3. Turn off appliances
Small changes to workplace electrical use can make a big difference to how eco-friendly your office is.
- Turn off appliances when you leave work – items left on standby account for about 1% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
- Unplug unused chargers, because voltage transformers consume energy (known as ‘electrical leakage’)
- Turn off unneeded lights – this could save 171kg of CO2 emissions a year
You can also optimise the energy use of your office equipment:
- Put monitors on the most energy-efficient setting
- Use more sustainable lighting solutions (such as LED bulbs)
- Make use of natural lighting on sunny days
- Replace old equipment with more efficient items
4. Offer more plant-based food options
Reducing the amount of meat you eat is an effective way of lowering your environmental impact. In fact, it's estimated that 4.5% of Brits already follow a vegan or vegetarian diet.
Accounting firm PwC has taken part in the Veganuary campaign for six consective years - raising awareness of plant-based alternatives, implementing better labelling of vegan and vegetarian options, and offering incentives to staff to try plant-based meals.
The results of the firm's sustained committment to plant-based fare are impressive. The percentage of plant-based food sold in PwC's catered offices rose from 19% in January 2021 to 39% in January 2023. And 79% of those who took part in Veganuary 2023 said they would continue to eat more plant-based food throughout the rest of the year.
5. Rethink your real estate setup
Have you got separate heating and cooling systems in your office? You may want to replace them with a single unit – nearly 50% of the UK’s CO2 emissions come from building heating and cooling.
Some newer offices are built with reverse cycle units that absorb heat from external air to warm a building, then absorb warm air from inside in the summer – making them efficient to run, and with fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
If you’re planning to construct your own building, why not take inspiration from class-leading facilities such as the Co-Operative Group’s London HQ, which has a heat and power generation source that goes back into the National Grid, plus a system that uses heat from IT equipment to warm the building.
If those options aren’t available, you could just keep the thermostat low in winter – an increase of two degrees Celsius creates enough CO2 in a year to fill a hot-air balloon.
You could also consider downsizing if you have office areas that are frequently empty, as having a smaller facility will reduce your carbon footprint. Or even have no office at all, if your team can work remotely.
6. Encourage different commuting methods or remote working
Work-related travel has a huge impact on the environment, so consider car sharing, using public transport, or working at home more frequently to reduce vehicle emissions. When it comes to transport, small steps have the potential to add up to big differences: The Rideshare Company estimates if you cut just 25 miles from your total weekly commute, you will save 680kg (1,500lbs) of CO2 per year.
Carpooling is growing in popularity, with programmes such as West Sussex Car Share putting people in contact with others who go to the same work sites. Liftshare, which manages the programme, says regular sharers can reduce their carbon footprint by 10% and save £1,000 a year. Why not set up your own lift share initiative?
Too often we can default to cars for journeys that can easily be done by bus or train: public transport could replace 21% of urban car journeys in the UK, according to sustainable transport charity Sustrans. If you live really close to your workplace, try commuting by bicycle or foot: as well as helping you to stay health, a three-mile round trip will save 1kg of CO2 emissions compared to taking the car.
And if employees can work from home, encourage telecommuting: this will help you reduce your carbon footprint further, and take more vehicles off the road. The tools available to workers mean you can all easily keep in touch.
These are just a few of the many ideas you could implement but putting any of these in place will help your organisation reduce its effect on our environment. Which will you try?
This article was first published in May 2019. It was updated in June 2024 for freshness, clarity, and accuracy.