Although a lot of people are working from home right now due to COVID, once things get back to normal you may be looking for ways that you can have a lot less waste at your business. So whether you have a skeleton crew in office right now or you have the normal number of people, below are five tips for reducing waste in your workplace.
Even though recycling’s helpful, the largest impact will come from using a lot less paper. Programs such as Google Docs make writing, editing and collaborating free online. There’s also Dropbox, which is a free online service which makes syncing and sharing files online, so it’s very easy to eliminate a lot of paper used in your office.
If you make it really easy to recycle, people are going to do it more often. So, why not have a recycling bin attached to your trashcans? This makes it visible and won’t take additional effort. Make it really simple for your employees by doing this and you’ll find there’s a lot less waste.
Sometimes it’s necessary to print documents. You can save the amount of paper that’s wasted by having your employees set the default to print on both sides of the paper. You can also ask them to use the function that says, “Print Selection”. This encourages them only to print what is really necessary rather than having a ton of unnecessary items printed.
Although this may not be feasible right now due to COVID, it’s something to consider in the future. Rather than spending a lot of money on paper plates, Styrofoam cups, and really flimsy utensils made of plastic, purchase some real silverware and dishes for the office café. You are going to save money because you don’t have to worry about buying them and then tossing them out. Let everyone know they’re responsible for cleaning their silverware and dishes, and if possible, get an office dishwasher.
A lot of the trash in the office comes from those water bottles that people are always drinking out of. It’s better to have a water filter tap or a pitcher in your refrigerator so that your employees can stop bringing in those bottles and simply get filtered water right from the tap or pitcher. It’s going to save your office money on the cost of bottled water and your carbon footprint will be much smaller.
These are just five easy ways that you can create less trash in your workplace. With technology as advanced as it is, cutting the amount of paperwork down is easier than ever. Not only that, but some of the tips above can also help you save money, which is something we can all get behind. Use these tips and you’re going to find it’s making a big difference.
