Staying Green at the Office: 5 Tips to Adopt Environmentally Friendly Habits at the Workplace

Nearly everyone these days is trying to live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, and those efforts can extend to staying green at the office, too.

Adopting more eco-friendly habits, even when clocking in your hours at work, can be especially easy if your efforts include small changes that add up to green results.

There are many little things you can do around the office to stay green while earning your green, so here’s a green checklist of 5 simple things you can do to help keep our planet a little healthier even when you’re busy at work.

Bring in Your Own Cups, Plates, and Silverware

Most workplaces have a ready stash of foam or paper cups and cups, plastic spoons, knives, and forks, and other disposable supplies for office snacks and lunches.

However, if you bring your own cup, plates, cups, and silverware to work (and wash them at the end of the day), you can avoid dipping into these resources and reduce the need to refill the supply of disposable items as often.

Conserve the Disposable Dishware You Do Use

If you find that bringing your own dishware to work is a pain, or you would rather not leave your personal cups, dishes, and utensils at the office, then take only one disposable cup from the office kitchen in the morning and designate it as the single cup you’ll use throughout the day for coffee, water, tea, or your other drink of choice; you can rinse the cup out in the sink between uses.

You can recycle in the same manner any plates, plastic utensils, and other disposable implements you use while at work.

Reach for the Bowl of Sugar

Need to add a little sugar to your morning cup of java? Why not go for the sugar in the bowl (or canister) instead of using those convenient little sugar packets. After all, it takes far more material to wrap a teaspoon of sugar in a handy-dandy packet than it does to package a larger quantity of sugar. The same goes for condiments of other varieties.

Make Two-Sided Copies and Printouts

It’s easy to click on the default settings your computer prompts you to make when you need to print or copy a document, and many documents do need to be one-sided.

Whenever possible though, make two-sided copies and print-outs; this not only helps to conserve paper, but some copiers and printers require less energy to produce two-sided copy than two single-sided documents.

Turn Off Your Computer at Night

If your office allows you to power down your computer when you leave each day, then by all means shut your equipment down right before you take off for the evening, as this can save untold amounts of electricity over the course of a year.

As you can see, staying green at the office can be easily done by making a few simple adjustments in your daily workplace habits. And, while you may feel like you’re the only one making an effort in adopting green office habits, remember that every little bit counts toward keeping our planet healthier – and, if your colleagues see you staying green at the office, they may be inspired to follow your lead.