We are a financial services company that, like many service oriented businesses, has a group of people who travel (less often than before) to an office to work on computers, at their desks. Comparing our business to many other types of companies, it would seem that our carbon footprint would be quite small.
But it is measurable, and just calculating an individual’s footprint is an enlightening exercise that everyone can do.
What can you do if you work in an office?
- Reduce waste – print in black and white, always print (if you have to print) double sided.
- Look at moving to being a more paperless workplace.
- Aim to reduce, recycle and reuse, which means figuring out the complexities of your municipal recycling program and how your building works with its contractors and cleaners to sort waste.
- Reduce the footprint – look for office space that meets recognized standards of energy efficiency, that’s close to transit or a bike lane network.
- Reduce the number of days employees are required to be in the office (going from five days to four immediately saves 20% of the commuting footprint).