When working from home, you may notice, aside from spending way more time in front of your computer screen, your trash cans fill up more quickly, or that your electricity bill creeps up. If you have a growing concern about the footprint you’re leaving each day, you’re not alone.
Sustainability can be about reducing waste, conserving resources, and preserving our mental health and wellbeing. With more than half of the U.S. workforce continuing to work at home, sustainable workplace practices are more critical than ever.
The good news is that despite working from home more often, you can take a few simple actions to encourage your employees to be more sustainable when working from home and celebrate Earth Day together–not just this Thursday, April 22, but beyond.
Invest in sustainability education
Encourage your team to become educated in sustainable living best practices. Intuition is holding three key sessions this week, and your employees can get new ideas for saving money, making simple switches to be more healthy, and tips to reduce their negative impact on the environment.
Sustainability Buzzwords: What Do They Mean, Why Should I Care (4/19) and 10 Simple Sustainable Ideas To Do While Working From Home (4/21) with Kristen Fulmer is a sustainability expert and Founder of Recipric, and Zero Waste Life Hacks (4/22) with Certified Holistic Health Coach and international yoga teacher, Anna.
Even if it’s isn’t with Intuition and you want to learn more about sustainability, you can find several environmental courses on Coursera or through online nature conservation organizations.
Run a step challenge
Encourage your team to walk more throughout the day versus driving, whether behind the wheel or using services like Uber Eats or DoorDash. At the end of the month, tally up the most steps taken and consider donating in their name to a nature conservatory or an environmental charity. Aside from who got the most steps, you can also choose winners for people who walked the longest distance or visited the most exciting place.
Encourage neighborhood clean-ups
Supporting your employees to step outside of their homes throughout the day is excellent for mental health, but add an Earth Day twist by having them take a recycle bag and gloves with them and asking them to pick up pieces of trash they see on the ground in their neighborhood. Many municipalities and cities cut back on garbage services and recycling; doing a deed like this is neighborly and kind to the Earth.
Hold a special Earth Day trivia session
Protecting the planet starts one person at a time. Make this a fun and unique experience by asking your team how much they know about the Earth, its species, resources, and threats. Test their knowledge with fun facts in an afternoon trivia session. Consider sending the winner a reusable mug or water bottle!
Make a long-term commitment
It’s a great time to get your organization’s environmental policies in tip-top shape for the year ahead. The possibilities are endless, but making it a yearly habit to focus on one sustainable effort can go a long way. If your goal is to reduce plastic pollution, identify areas where you can use it less as a business. If you’re interested in boosting recycling efforts, get your whole team involved by sending everyone a recycle bin, and every month, ask employees to send in a photo of what they’ve recycled. Offer a bonus or a small reward to the team for filling it up or meeting a minimum limit.
Need help planning a fun event for your team or curious about other Earth Day virtual activities? Let’s talk!
