Sustainability guide for working at home

Remote work surveys from PWC indicate that 70 percent of U.S. workers want to continue working from home after the COVID-19 pandemic. Other studies, like this one from HBR, have shown that working from home can increase how much people accomplish by allowing for greater focus, and generally increasing worker satisfaction. With employers and employees alike committing to new remote realities, it may be time to add sustainability to the list of reasons why remote work is a trend worth embracing.

Going natural and living more sustainably are public health concerns as trends in climate change continue to highlight the importance of both collective and individual actions. Quarantines, social distancing, and shifts toward remote work due to COVID-19 are showing positive environmental effects, which means that continuing to work from home may not only be a personal preference but also beneficial to the health of the planet.

Remote work can power sustainability efforts

Flexjobs notes that remote work has been linked to improved air quality and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel usage, and water pollution. Other earth-friendly benefits of working from home include:

• Cutting down on paper waste
• Reduction of single-use plastics
• Reduction of resources consumed during transportation

Of course, your specific working situation will affect what opportunities you have to go green. For example, you may be able to open windows or comfortably switch off your heater or A/C at home, without compromising the comfort of others. This can cut down on carbon emissions and save on energy use, which both have positive environmental effects. Alternatively, it may be easier for you to support local recycling programs, or compost your spent coffee grounds, when you don’t have to get an entire office breakroom to follow suit. The easiest and most impactful opportunity really depends on your personal work habits and environment.

Challenges of measuring the environmental impact of a remote workforce

It’s already challenging to measure total energy use, waste production, or other sustainability benchmarks related to remote work, since your home is functioning as both your residential space and your company’s working space. Because of this dual nature, determining whether your lunch waste, for example, is generated by your household or your workplace becomes complicated.

Additionally, remote offices may be spread across the country or even the world, with employees in states or cities that use varying power sources and have different access to green solutions. Because of this, working from home may be less sustainable in some places than others.

Despite these challenges, there are still plenty of ways remote work can support sustainability. The whole point of getting remote workers engaged and committed to going green is to increase the cumulative impact of many individual efforts. When teams of workers, and their organizational leaders, communicate, share strategies, and hold one another accountable in a constructive way, it becomes possible to measure the impact the whole group is having together, even when they are separated from each other.

Help remote workers adopt green habits from home

There are plenty of ways to encourage your remote employees to adopt sustainability habits and practices:

• Host green competitions, such as recycling drives.
• Reward green behavior with prizes — make sustainability part of company culture by celebrating individual efforts through public praise and tangible rewards such as gift cards, meals, or other special privileges.
• Support green vendors and partner with other businesses adopting sustainability efforts.
• Go paperless with digital documents and e-signatures to cut down on waste.

Encouraging employees and co-workers to adopt green behaviors is just one of the ways you can make your company more sustainable. Making room in your company’s budget for sustainability drives, campaigns, or other projects is another way to enact company-wide change. Creating annual sustainability goals based on your eco-footprint can also make sustainability a part of your company’s culture.

Blend green initiatives with company culture

Whether you’re an employee leading the charge on sustainability or a business owner who cares about their environmental impact, sustainable investments your organization can provide include:

• Purchasing second-hand office equipment, electronics, and goods
• Providing employees with public transit passes
• Offering volunteer opportunities for employees such as cleaning up a local park

These investments can benefit the company’s sustainability goals, as well as contribute to company culture.

Everyday ways to green-up your lifestyle

It can be especially beneficial to transfer sustainability habits from the workplace into home life. Going green at home can lower your energy bills, improve indoor air quality, and even increase the overall value of your home. Some everyday sustainability practices for your home are:

• Cut down on waste: Some options include purchasing fewer single-use plastics, repairing things that can be fixed instead of replacing them, and starting a compost bin for food scraps.
• Master the three Rs (Reducing, reusing, and recycling): The three Rs are the pillars of sustainable living. Common household items that can be recycled or reused include cardboard tubes and packaging, aluminum cans, unsoiled paper products, and ink cartridges.
• Minimize energy use: Conserve energy around the house by switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, using natural light throughout the day, and unplugging appliances and other electronics when they’re not in use.
• Choose green energy sources: In some cities, there are incentives for installing green energy sources on your home, such as solar power. If this doesn’t exist where you live, minimizing your energy use or switching to more eco-friendly appliances are good ways to decrease your carbon footprint.
• Seek sustainable foods: Shopping for local, in-season produce is a great way to cut down on carbon emissions from food imports, as well as reduce the amount of packaging and storage needed for foods. Local farmer’s markets or locally owned grocery stores are great places to find these things.

Get support from company leaders for your green ideas.

Advocating for policy change is both about ethical benefits and how sustainable policies can directly benefit the business. If you take sustainability seriously and want to make a convincing case to your company to adopt new practices, here are some points to mention when discussing sustainable policies with upper management:

• Reduces costs: Adopting a sustainability policy can help reduce costs because recycling, reusing, and reducing the number of goods purchased is the cornerstone of any green initiative. For example, the average American office worker uses a sheet of paper every 12 minutes, which adds up to as much as 200 pounds of paper waste every year. A sustainability policy can cut down on this waste by limiting paper use. Additionally, equipment costs can be lowered by buying second-hand. Even printer ink cartridges can be recycled and refilled, cutting down on manufacturing waste. Pro-tip: prepare for this conversation by gathering data and pricing specific to your company.
• Improves efficiency: The Network for Business Sustainability found that companies that had voluntarily adopted sustainability policies saw a 16 percent overall increase in productivity. This is attributed to the fact that corporate social responsibility practices (CSRs) foster more employee training and communication, which results ultimately in more capable and productive employees.
• Encourages creativity: Introducing new processes to company structure can encourage out-of-the-box thinking, new ways of getting things done, while influencing overall performance and job satisfaction. Surveys of U.S. and Canadian employees found that organizations that engaged more staff in creative problem-solving reported higher levels of job satisfaction. Bringing more people into the conversation about going green and finding ways to support sustainability can foster a culture in which more people feel invested, appreciated, and their ideas are valued.
• Aids in employee recruiting, development, and retention: According to CNBC, 9 out of 10 millennials would take a pay cut to work for a company that aligns with their social values, such as sustainability. By developing policies specific to these values, you can increase your company’s ability to recruit and retain quality employees.

Take sustainability further by collaborating

Remote work environments have offered workers more autonomy, but also new forms of accountability for how they are spending their time and what results they can produce. This same trend can be helpful when it comes to engaging in green best practices and starting grassroots sustainability groups. If this is something you’re interested in as an employee, here are a few tips to get started:

• Understand the sustainability strategy at your workplace: When starting your employee-led group, it’s important to understand what your company already prioritizes when it comes to sustainability. Most companies have public pages with this information. For example, here is Adobe’s sustainability page. Reviewing sustainability policies that are already in place can help you better understand your company’s current views on eco-friendly initiatives and identify areas of improvement for your group to address.
• Determine a goal for your group: Having goals is a key part of any successful group. A specific theme, for example, allows you to make realistic goals that you can measure and achieve. One possible theme for your group could be organizing community clean-up initiatives. You can then measure how many people are taking part, how many communities your group is able to support, and even the amount of trach picked up.
• Educate colleagues about green practices: Education is the first step to empowerment. It’s important to provide information and resources about the sustainability practices happening in your workplace, especially for employees outside of your group. This is another way that you can effect eco-friendly change at your company.
• Seek support from company management: Gaining support for your employee-sustainability group from management can open up more company resources for your group.

Go green by going digital with sustainable tech

The use of technology and the increasing rate of digital transformation has allowed remote workspaces to evolve and improve. More than 20 percent of the modern workforce is already capable of working remotely some or all the time. This is most prevalent in fields where workers are highly skilled, work closely with digital tools, and adopt solutions that augment human labor — like artificial intelligence or automation. Additionally, technology can also help remote workplaces by going paperless and encouraging further green living.

Going paperless with digital documents and electronic signatures

Switching from physical to digital documents can help companies cut down on paper and printer usage. Digital documents can be a more efficient way to transfer text and image files across long distances, and cybersecurity measures like encryption can make the digital transfer more secure. Electronic signatures can cover a variety of essential business documents including:

• E-docs
• Bills of sale
• NDAs
• Business proposals

Apps that help encourage green living at work and beyond

The demand for remote-work technology and digital solutions has given birth to new software that can help businesses achieve a variety of goals. These apps can not only assist with sustainability, but also encourage employees to engage in sustainable efforts. Examples of apps that encourage everyday sustainability best practices include:

• PaperKarma: Provides users with an opt-out directory for junk mail. This can decrease the amount of paper waste generated by your home workspace through your mailbox.
• Commute Greener: Designed to help commuters change their daily transport patterns to cut down on carbon emissions, or to switch to alternative routes like biking or walking.
• Ecosia: A search engine similar to Google, Exosia uses ad revenue to plant trees. Ecosia has currently planted millions of trees in several biodiversity hotspots.
• iRecycle: Designed to improve recycling rates across the U.S., this app provides users with a directory of recyclers for different products, as well as what’s recyclable through the standard blue bin recycling plants.

Additional resources for promoting sustainability at work

The following resources can help you connect and collaborate on sustainability with others businesses and employees, as well as keep you informed about current business sustainability trends. They can also be included as a part of your sustainability policies or employee-led education efforts.

• GreenBiz: GreenBiz is a great information source for employees and business owners on everything going on in the world of sustainability and business. GreenBiz also holds digital events where those interested in sustainable business practices can learn more about the current landscape and network with other like-minded individuals.
• Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC): The NRDC protects the natural systems and resources of the earth from negligent businesses and institutions. Through both litigation and partnership, the NRDC is dedicated to discovering the root causes of climate change and addressing them at the source.
• Green Business Bureau: The GBB is dedicated to helping businesses understand, implement, and measure the impact of their green initiatives. By becoming a GBB partner you can get access to their EcoPlanner and EcoAssessment tools, which can help you create and implement customized sustainability policies for your business.
• Treehugger: Formerly the Mother Nature Network, treehugger is a place where employers and employees can find sustainable information and resources for their workplace. Individuals can also find home and garden tips, making it a great place for the eco-conscious employee.
• Sustainable States Network: The Sustainable States Network lists sustainability programs in each state. Depending on your state, these programs may offer incentives for residents and businesses who adopt green initiatives, so it’s important to look up what programs exist in your state.

Remote work has emphasized several unique avenues for embracing sustainability. Whether you’re interested in promoting green practices in your own home office or advocating for eco-conscious choices at the corporate level, sustainability in your work-life is worth fighting for.