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Workplace

Greening the Workplace

We spend a lot of time where we work, and our workplaces all have an ecological footprint.  Think of the resources consumed, the waste produced, cleaning substances used, and the energy needed to run lights, produce heat and operate equipment. Sustainability at your workplace has multiple benefits -- saving money, increasing the comfort and efficiency of the work space, boosting the personal well-being of employees, reducing environmental impacts, and meeting the social responsibility goals of the business.

Increasingly, workplaces are committing to making changes with the environment in mind.  Here are some ideas to get you started.

Getting Started

Choosing to be a "green" workplace can take many forms!  In general, it is probably a good idea to start small and build from there. Some basic steps can help gets things off to a good beginning:

  • At the outset, do an inventory or audit of current practices. This is useful in helping to set priorities and provides baseline information against which to measure progress.
  • Have a plan that identifies goals, priorities, resources needed, timelines, and evaluation or measurement tools.
  • Include workplace education and awareness so that employees understand the purpose, anticipated outcomes and benefits of the program.
  • Report back frequently through e-mail, newsletters, posters or other means, so that participants are kept informed about how things are going.

LGLW Suggests 

Small steps do make a difference!  Here are some examples of specific measures that some workplaces have implemented.

  • WASTE REDUCTION: Implement a recycling program for office paper. Start used-on-one-side paper banks in the office (being aware of confidentiality issues if materials contain private information). Print documents double-sided.
  • COMPOSTING: Start a composting system for lunch scraps or other food waste from your workplace.
  • ENERGY: Install energy-efficient fluorescent lights. These pay for themselves many times over through lower energy bills. Turn off lights and equipment when not in use. Consider installing programmable thermostats to reduce heating/air conditioning during non-business hours. Check out Manitoba Hydro's Power Smart for Business program for practical help and more great energy-saving ideas.
  • TRANSPORTATION:  Promote sustainable commuting practices by contributing to bus passes for staff, organizing car-pools or awarding prizes to the greenest commuters. Register and participate in the annual Commuter Challenge.
  • AWARENESS:  Host a speaker to give a presentation on an environmental issue to staff and/or customers.
  • PROCUREMENT:  Use recycled paper. Purchase environmentally friendly cleaning products for your office. Look for the ecologo and check out "www.environmentalchoice.com" for a search engine of available alternatives.

 

Getting Serious

If sustainability has become a priority where you work, here are some further suggestions.

(1) RESEARCH: Audit current practices. What are energy costs at present? How much paper is used? How much is spent on waste disposal? How many employees drive alone to work, and how many cycle, take transit, walk or carpool? ... and so on. As noted, this is useful for many reasons, two of which are: (a) to help identify priorities and guide decisions on where to start and how best to deploy resources, and (b) to help establish baseline information so that subsequent improvements can be documented and measured.

(2) SCOPE: Depending on the circumstances, the scope of the initiative may depend on whether plant operations are included or not. In general, the areas include:

  • Energy (space heating/cooling, equipment, production processes)
  • Transportation (commuting, vehicle fleet, service delivery)
  • Waste generation (reduction, recycling, composting)
  • Water (reduction, efficiency)
  • Hazardous and Toxic Materials (industrial processes, cleaning supplies)
  • Purchasing (green procurement policies)
  • Other (e.g. noise)

3) CAPACITY AND COMMITMENT: Sometimes workplace sustainability committees operate on essentially 'volunteer' time. That is, employees participate in meetings, but are still expected to do all their other regular duties. So reviewing information and making decisions gets done off the side of people's desks as an 'add-on' to everything else. That can be a challenge. If someone has been designated as a sustainability co-ordinator, hopefully that is their actual paid position. Capacity issues affect the scale of what can be contemplated and the timeline for implementation. If there is upper level management buy-in, that helps a lot. In cases where there are short-term costs, there needs to be a willingness to put those costs into budgets. Of course, many operational changes entail no additional costs whatsoever, and many actually save money through resource efficiencies.

(4) START SMALL: As noted above, it makes sense to start with some modest initiatives that hold reasonable prospect for success, so as to build confidence in further, more ambitious measures. Recycling is one of the places where some workplaces start, though it depends on the specific circumstances, of course.

(5) IMPLEMENTATION: It is good to remember that people who are affected by decisions need to be included as far as possible and certainly consulted and apprised in advance. In most cases, employees are glad to see their workplace taking action.

Social marketing principles can provide helpful guidance in rolling out specific components of a program. There is no magic in that. It just means finding out what the barriers are that are preventing people from adopting the desired behaviour, and then working to dismantle and remove those barriers. Depending on available resources, there may be a place for some modest rewards and incentives to accompany introduction of some practices into the workplace.

Good luck and keep at it!

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