The S-word is bandied around a lot these days in a corporate setting. It’s become a kind of buzzword, often used to generate excitement and make an organisation sound more forward-thinking than it may well be. Which word are we talking about?
Sustainability, of course.
It’s all well and good for a company to commit to being sustainable, and prioritising sustainable practices throughout their office. But what exactly does that mean?
Education
It’s not possible for a workplace to become truly eco-friendly without the right education. That means both education for management, as well as ensuring this knowledge then trickles down to employees of all levels.
Reducing waste
The best response to any sustainability challenges is to eliminate waste at the source. If your education revolves around this ethos, then you’ll be much more likely to see results in your workplace.
Start by explaining how much waste your office produces each and every year, and similar statistics for your industry and Australia as a whole. Ideally, this information will paint a much better picture for your staff, of the waste crisis we’re facing across the globe. When your employees understand the problem and what’s at stake, they’ll be much more receptive to learning about positive, actionable steps that they can take.
Seminars and workshops
Once your staff have a good understanding of why waste poses such a problem, you can then begin to introduce them to steps and strategies. Short workshops are a good way to educate your workers on how to be more sustainable in the office. You might even hire a provider to come in and conduct an information session.
It’s important that these kinds of sessions are done in a collaborative and interactive way. We all know that if your employees are actually enjoying the content and engaging with it, they’ll be much more likely to retain the information and therefore, contribute to creating a more sustainable workplace.
The sessions should emphasise the importance of taking steps to make your office more sustainable, such as:
• Reducing food waste
• Using less paper
• Water-saving and power-saving measures
• Removing single-use plastics
• Green cleaning products
• Working with a sustainable rubbish removal company.
Innovation from staff
It’s important to be open to contributions and ideas from staff at all times… after all, sustainability is everyone’s responsibility. Once you’ve provided ample education on eco-friendly practices, your staff will likely have thoughts of their own, including ideas on how to tackle the problem of sustainability in the office.
Collaboration is essential for coming up with the most impactful and effective solutions. By remaining open and receptive to staff feedback and suggestions, you’ll be ensuring that your people feel valued and included. You’ll also be much more likely to find dynamic solutions for the issue of sustainability in your office!
Reliable and regular resources
After the initial information sessions and furore around becoming a greener organisation, the hard work begins. Often, ideas and enthusiasm will simply fade away, meaning your workplace won’t really become more eco-friendly in the long run. Therefore, it’s necessary to implement ongoing, collaborative action to keep your workplace on track in its sustainability journey.
This action can take a few different forms.
A daily or weekly email is a handy way to keep staff informed of updates and to deliver helpful tips and tricks. You might even implement a sustainability focus for the week, such as bringing food from home to eliminate single-use takeaway containers.
Adequate signage around the office will help to keep employees informed about sustainable practices, such as using less paper, saving water, and placing waste items in the correct bin. Regular meetings, a sustainability team, and idea generation sessions will also help immensely in keeping that eco-friendly ‘ball’ rolling.
Incentives
Incentives are an effective, proven way to entice your employees to be more sustainable in the office. For instance, provide rewards for the employee who prints the least amount of paper each week, or who produces the least recycling waste. These kinds of incentives can make the experience much more enjoyable for your staff, and reinforce good habits.
Waste management and rubbish removal
An office simply will not be sustainable unless it commits to responsible waste management and office rubbish removal. Offices all around Australia produce a huge amount and wide variety of rubbish and will continue to do so unless every effort is made to eliminate this waste. While your workplace does produce office rubbish, you will need to hire a Sydney rubbish removal company to remove this waste quickly and safely.
Sydney City Rubbish has years of experience in dealing with all kinds of office junk and miscellaneous waste. Throughout our time as waste management professionals, we’ve dealt with rubbish such as:
• Large recyclables
• Electronic waste
• Office furniture.
Attempting to remove and dispose of these waste types will likely lead to increased financial loss, risk of injury, and a lot of stress. Therefore, it’s critical that you let the professionals handle it. At Sydney City Rubbish, we’ll take this waste and ensure that it is recycled or repurposed in the most sustainable way possible.
Green cleaning
Cleaning is another process that will require a sustainability-geared overhaul. The products that you or your cleaning contractor uses should always be eco-friendly, to ensure that your cleaning operation isn’t resulting in harmful pollution. There must also be a focus on conserving resources, such as water, chemicals, and energy. Overall, those simple steps will make your cleaning operation a much more green affair.
Hiring a professional Sydney office cleaning company is the surest way to maintain a green approach to cleaning. Once you’ve read reviews and confirmed that the contractor does indeed maintain an environmentally friendly approach, you can simply hand over the reins and enjoy a green cleaning experience.
The importance of hiring a professional Sydney rubbish removal company
At Sydney City Rubbish, we’re committed to sustainability at every turn. Hiring a professional Sydney rubbish removal company will ensure that your waste management requirements are always met. Get in touch with us today.
