5 Ways to Make Your Office Greener

Australians use more than 3.5 million tons of paper each year, with 90% of office paper going straight to landfills. While you might be practicing sustainability at home, are you also doing so at work? In light of National Recycling Week, here are some simple steps to create an eco-friendly workplace in partnership with Planet Ark.

Carry out a waste audit

Review what goes out of your office and into the landfills. Do a quick check in bins to see what materials can be recycled – you’ll be surprised with what you find! This is a great starting point for deciding what recycling systems to set up.

Set up collection stations

Reduce the workplace's environmental impact by having recycling booths around the office. It’s best to have specific bins for different materials, and depending on the size of your office, to have multiple bins at different locations. In addition to basic recyclables such as paper, glass and aluminium, you can start recycling e-waste as well. Stop your printer cartridges, mobile phones and batteries from becoming garbage, drop them off at your nearest Officeworks store to be recycled! Officeworks is a proud partner of Planet Ark in their ‘Cartridges 4 Planet Ark’ program.

Be excited to go green

Plant recycling habits among staff and grow an eco-friendly working culture. Use clear and direct signage to introduce your recycling systems and encourage sustainability around the office. Positive e-mail reminders and setting recycling goals (i.e. keeping track of number of bins collected, amount of waste reduced etc.) will make your efforts flourish in no time!

Join the Friday File Fling

Most times, only 1 out of 10 office papers are recycled, while the others are stored in files and are never seen again. It’s time to declutter those cabinets and get good, reusable office paper back into circulation. Gather the team and turn it into a fun end-of-week event combined with tea and drinks! Here’s how to host a Friday File Fling. 

Use recycled office products

One of the best habits for an office is to purchase green products! The more products you buy made from recycled products, the greater the environment benefits from recycling. From envelopes to post-it notes, stock up on recycled office supplies at Officeworks.

What other ways is your office going green?