Is sustainability in your office just an at-work routine, or is your team taking these routines home with them? A team of people implementing sustainable practices at work is incredibly impactful, but a team of people with sustainable practices as part of their core values creates an impact that is invaluable.
If an office team recycles at work, uses reusable water bottles and other green tech at work, they will remove a large amount of plastic and other waste from landfills over time. However, if that same team truly values sustainability as a way of life instead of workplace rules and routines, they will bring these practices home. Once they bring these values home, they become part of their home culture as well. Others in the home begin to value these practices, and they will teach others the value of these practices, who will teach others, and so on.
There are several great ways to make workplace sustainability practices, well, sustainable.
Incorporate Infographics at Key Locations
It’s no secret that infographics are great ways to relay information quickly and in an engaging way. Useful information is presented in a way that’s streamlined as well as visually appealing, and importantly, easy to read quickly. Placing an infographic about waste near a trash can, a graphic about recycling near the recycling bin, etc. is a great way to relay the important specific statistics about why various sustainable practices are important. Graphics like this can even be downloaded for free from stopwaste.org.
Encourage Every Team Member to Define Sustainability
In order for every team member to truly engage with the values behind sustainable practices, they should each be invited to engage as an individual. Every employee should be asked what sustainability means to them, and they should be encouraged to have their own ideas of sustainable practices that can be brought into the office. This level of engagement would prompt every person to define these values for themselves as well as to think critically about their specific place in a sustainable culture. Once someone can see their own specific impact, and they know their thoughts on sustainability are valued, these practices become something they value rather than something they have to do at the office. This would all happen at the cost of just a few minutes at the next staff meeting.
Provide Opportunity and Recognition
Often times, people will do something just because they can, or neglect to do something just because it is not entirely convenient at the time. Whatever the office’s specific sustainability goal is, opportunities should be provided for employees to meet it. Reusable water bottles could be used as an incentive or prize for work-related success, and recycling bins could be moved to locations easily accessed by all employees. It’s also important to recognize employees for their sustainable practices. This could be in the form of celebrating a certain amount of plastic recycled, or simply by praising an employee for using glass food containers for their lunch instead of plastic. Recognizing employees for using sustainable practices will encourage them to do it more often, and they’ll begin to genuinely value it more.
When it comes to sustainability, we should be promoting a lifestyle, not just a set of rules or routines. Employees are people, and people – not just routines – will make a difference.
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