Today, we’ll take a look at how your business can choose the best practices for corporate social responsibility through eco-friendly choices.
The Office Compost Program provides the best office composting Waterloo has to offer, and we are happy to share what we’ve learned with you!
Here, you’ll learn five best practices for creating a more eco-friendly office and why corporate social responsibility is so important. Let’s get started!
Office Composting Waterloo & Corporate Social Responsibility
Office composting is one of the best ways to care for the environment. However, in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, commercial properties do not have access to compost pick up with weekly normal waste removal.
This means that unless you actively choose to work with an office composting company, your food and organic waste will end up in a landfill with the rest of your garbage!
Why is this a bad thing? Check out the video below to learn more about the difference between food waste that decomposes in a landfill vs food waste that is properly composted.
Food waste in landfills contributes to harmful greenhouse gas emissions
More and more employees and consumers alike care about corporate social responsibility and prefer to work with companies that align with their values.
Because of this, it’s important to take action - and composting is one of the easiest and most high-impact ways to do this!
How To Start Composting in the office
Composting at the office is just as easy as composting at home!
The Kitchener-Waterloo area is home to a wide variety of industries, including the fastest growing tech sector in Canada. Along with tech companies, Waterloo is home to:
Manufacturing plants & businesses
Tech and start-up businesses
Finance & insurance companies
Health care services
Retail trades
Construction services
Universities and education-related industries
Many of these industries employ a large number of workers, and regularly have clients or customers in and out of their buildings. Because of this, there are lots of opportunities for food waste to accumulate.
By working with the Office Compost Program, your business in Waterloo can instantly begin composting food waste.
The average office can produce significant amounts of food waste
Composting is not only is a great step towards greater corporate social responsibility - it can also help reduce your waste removal costs and help keep your office cleaner.
Many businesses in Waterloo, such as educational institutions, tech businesses, and insurance companies all have a solid reputation to uphold. Composting is a great way to show your clients you care.
4 more Practices for Corporate Social Responsibility
Composting is a great way to go green in the office - but it’s not the only way! Businesses that are truly dedicated to becoming more socially responsible can find ways to incorporate other eco-friendly choices too.
1. save energy at work
When there’s enough natural light, turn off lights to save energy
With a more recent focus on waste issues and climate change, we sometimes forget about the importance of saving energy! Remember. energy has to come from somewhere.
It comes from power plants - and when you use more energy, it means that power plants produce more fumes that end up in our atmosphere.
So, saving energy actually does directly help the environment! There are many ways you can save energy in the workplace:
Turn off lights when not in use or when there is enough natural light
Turn off lights when leaving the office overnight
Ensure all taps, toilets, etc. are not running or leaking
Turn off computers at the end of the day
Purchase smart plugs so you can adjust lights/power remotely
Lower A/C or heat when not in the building
Saving energy at work will not only help you work towards a more eco-friendly office, but it can also help you save a significant amount on your energy bills!
2. choose to reuse
Stock up your office kitchen with reusable mugs and kitchenware
As environmental sustainability becomes more mainstream, there are more and more reusable office products that you can choose from.
One of the easiest ways to reuse items is to invest in real mugs, plates, and cutlery to replace paper or plastic cups and kitchen items.
You can also choose to invest in reusable office supplies, such as refillable pens! Instead of throwing away your pen when it runs out of ink, simply refill the ink and you’re good to go.
As well, consider your other supplies. Maybe choose to use paper clips or binder clips instead of staples
Consider eliminating plastic water bottles from your office
Plastic disposable water bottles are also a big problem in offices. If you want to eliminate these from your office, consider investing in new reusable water bottles for your whole staff.
You can even get custom ordered bottles with your company name and logo on them!
3. clean the non-toxic way
Choose non-toxic cleaning products in your workplace
Chemical cleaning products often have a harsh smell and can cause a number of issues for employees and customers, including respiratory irritation and even allergic reactions.
Conventional chemical cleaners can also harm our environment, as they can easily end up in streams and linger in the air.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid the issues that come with conventional cleaning methods - choose non-toxic cleaning instead!
For simple clean-ups around the office, you can create your own DIY green cleaning products from common household ingredients like vinegar and baking soda.
However, for deep office cleaning, you will want to work with professionals who use the highest quality non-toxic cleaning products and have the right tools and equipment to not only clean, but also to sanitize.
4. Reduce Paper
Use a whiteboard instead of handing out paper notes during a meeting
Going completely paperless may not be possible for your workplace, but it is possible for every office to at least reduce the amount of paper they use on a regular basis!
There are many ways you can do this. Not sure how to get started? Here are some tips:
Take your meeting notes on a shared online document, such as Google Docs
Create and use interactive PDFs instead of printing documents for employees to sign. Then, store the files on your computer.
Skip printing off employee pay stubs and email them instead - it’ll save you the printed paper and envelopes!
Make use of the cloud and create a thorough online filing system
Remember, you don’t have to implement all of these ideas at once. Each of these eco-friendly office ideas can be slowly implemented across your office.
Make sure as you implement a new initiative, you explain to staff why you’re doing it and why it’s important!
OFFICE COMPOSTING WATERLOO - JOIN THE GREEN OFFICE MOVEMENT
For the best office composting Waterloo has to offer, you can rely on the Office Compost Program.
At the Office Compost Program, we help businesses all over the Kitchener-Waterloo area take big steps in the right direction by helping them compost their office food waste!
Contact us to learn more about how you can get started today.
“WE ARE CURRENTLY USING THE COMPOST PROGRAM AND THEY HAVE BEEN GREAT AS OUR COMPANY HAS GROWN AND OUR USAGE INCREASED. VERY FRIENDLY AND TERRIFIC SERVICE!”
— Julie G, Big Road