Most of us can come up with interesting ways to reduce the environmental impact of our lives at home. There are quite a few methods that people already know about – while we will talk about a couple new ones. But it is at the office where most people are stumped. How do you continue remaining productive while ensuring that you are not unnecessarily harming the environment?

  1. Assess Water Usage

Installing a water meter at the office is a good way to get a reading of how much water is being used by the entire floor. Automatic taps that shut off after a set number of seconds can help a lot. Using water-saver shower heads, energy-efficient toilets and new plumbing can also help a lot. While your employees are not going to use the toilet fewer times, the amount of water that is used during each visit to the bathroom is drastically reduced with these measures.

  1. Custom Shopping Bags

It is incredible how many plastic bags we can accumulate from a single shopping trip. Whether it is for groceries at home or office supplies, it only takes a few trips to get a massive collection of plastic bags. Avoid plastic waste by purchasing quality custom shopping bags through a site like Custom Earth Promos. These bags are made with “green” materials and are reusable.

Not only are the bags great for the environment, but they are also a lot of fun to use! They look fun, classy and you will surely get asked about them when you are next at the office supply store or a grocery store.

  1. Paperless Office

Going paperless is an incredible way to reduce waste in an office environment. Think about how many papers are just lying around in cabinets, unused. Now think about the papers that are thrown out or shredded each day. Most companies run on the internet these days. Going paperless with invoices and important documents will help the planet in a big way.

  1. Recycle

Recycling is something that you can do at home and at the office. It is all about being aware about the products that you can recycle. Bottles, cans, paper and other items are all recyclable. Have separate containers in the office where employees can easily distinguish between regular trash and recycling. Remind them about recycling periodically so they develop this great habit.

  1. Energy Efficient Fixtures

Light bulbs, LED monitors and other appliances can provide energy savings even with regular use. Motion-sensor activated lights are another option. If no one is in the room, they will immediately turn off. It does not even need to take someone in the office remembering to shut them off before they head out.

Making changes to the way we behave in the office is not easy. But a few adjustments can ensure your business runs as it is now – while using less resources! It is a great feeling when you know that you are reducing your environmental impact at home and work.

The impact of global warming is becoming very difficult to ignore. With the ice caps melting, sea level rising, a whole array of species slowly dying out, and the climate constantly shifting and causing natural disasters, it is no longer just a distant problem that might affect someone, some day far into the future.

It’s happening right now, it’s affecting us, and it’s going to make sure that our children have a much poorer quality of life than we’ve had. And global warming is just one of many issues that plague a modern man: overpopulation, the loss of biodiversity, water scarcity, deforestation, the issues with waste disposal are slowly threatening to spiral out of control.

But what can be done about it? Can a single person even contribute in a significant way? Absolutely! Let’s discuss how.

Go vegan

Contrary to popular belief veganism is not, in fact, only about saving animals. The biggest benefit of going vegan (besides better health), is saving the environment. It takes about 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef, and forests and fields are bulldozed every day to make more room for farmed animals, thus using up about 30% of the Earth’s landmass. In comparison, 1 pound of wheat takes 25 gallons to produce.

Farm animals also produce a lot of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming – methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide. And here’s the thing: you don’t have to make a complete switch. Simply reducing your meat intake by at least a fraction helps, and your path to veganism can, and should, be done over a certain period of time.

Wear sustainable clothing

Clothing, along with gadgets, cars, and beauty products, is one of the biggest indicators of an increasingly consumerist culture that demands that we give into companies and push ourselves to waste money, time, and frankly space, to own more and more things that we don’t really need. Most of those companies also have very unethical supply chains and their factory workers live in extremely poor conditions. It kind of kills the joy of owning a brand new pretty sweater once you know that people who made it are underpaid, overworked, and treated like they are subhuman (child labour is also a huge issue).

What’s the solution? There are several. Secondhand clothing, for example, is a great option, or simply brands that vow to engage in ethical production and distribution. Another fantastic option is sustainable bamboo clothing because the fabric made from bamboo has some awesome properties – it keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer, it’s breathable, it’s soft, it’s biodegradable, and has some antibacterial properties. Bamboo also requires a lot less water and pesticides to grow.

Make little changes to reduce your carbon footprint

From riding a bike to work to taking shorter showers and turning off the lights as soon as you leave the room. Small changes can make a huge difference, so it’s worth making an effort as it’s not even that time-consuming. While not everyone can afford to install solar panels and drive a hybrid car, all of us can do small things to live more sustainably.

Minimize waste

By this, we mean to minimize the use of disposables (wet wipes, kitchen towels, plastic razors), and plastic containers. Avoid ordering ordering coffee at Starbucks by bringing your own coffee from home in reusable coffee cups, buying tiny bottles of food, beauty products, and hygiene items so you would contribute to minimizing plastic waste. Try not to waste food either, because about one-third of all food produced ends up being disposed, spoiled, or squandered in some way.

Start the discussion

One of the most shocking things is the fact that about two-thirds of global warming can be contributed to only 90 big companies who waste insane amount of resources to keep running. How, then, can a single person even begin to make a change? Will using LED light bulbs really make any difference? Yes! Absolutely, yes!

It’s not just about you living more sustainably, it’s about starting the discussion on environmental issues, it’s about changing mindsets and demanding better from those that are in power. Show companies that you don’t want products that were made unethically, show them that you will do no business with someone who is too irresponsible, arrogant, and selfish to care about the impact they make on the environment and see you as anything other than a foolish consumer. Hit them where it hurts – their wallets. That is how you make a change.

You’re the one with power here, and making a decision to live a better life is liberating. We encourage you to try these tips, get creative and come up with your own solutions. Let’s make this world a better place.