Most professionals spend around one-quarter to one-third of their time in the office, making the goal of a zero-waste office an important part of any sustainability-minded lifestyle. If you are an employer seeking to implement sustainable practices or an employee hoping to create change through example, understanding the steps to a successful transition can help you make significant reductions in workplace waste.
Get the Team on Board
Zero-waste initiatives work best when there’s a groundswell of interest, which is why it’s so important to get your colleagues thinking about sustainability before setting zero-waste goals at work. To get the ball rolling, you could:
- Hold a movie night and watch a zero-waste documentary, such as The Story of Stuff, No Impact Man, or Blue Planet II.
- Organize a beach clean-up as a team-building activity.
- Participate in a local tree-planting event.
- Go on a nature hike.
Once the team is excited, establish a zero-waste action committee (or “green team”) to oversee the zero-waste program, publish weekly updates, organize competitions, and offer incentives and prizes. Competitions can have an individual winner, such as the employee who fills his or her waste paper basket last, or they can maintain a corporate focus, such as holding a celebration for everyone when the team beats its previous record for producing the smallest volume of trash.
Analyze Your Office’s Waste
To make headway on waste reduction, you need to be familiar with the types of waste generated at the office and where it’s coming from. For example, an audit might find that trash bins are filled with:
- Single-use water cups
- Single-use coffee pods
- Styrofoam take-out containers
- Staples
- Paper
- E-waste
- Banana peels
Once you know what your team is throwing away, it will be easier to establish an action plan and tackle the main waste sources first.
Make One Change at a Time
If you’ve made it this far, you know what kind of waste you’re dealing with and the team is excited to see things change. Now, it’s time to start reducing waste in the workplace one step at a time, remembering that a zero-waste office is a journey rather than something that happens overnight.
To make the journey more achievable, start with one “waste-free” day per week or focus on one area at a time. After a few months, you’ll be amazed at how far your workplace has come!
Shared Bins
When office employees have individual waste paper baskets underneath their desks, items like trash, recyclable goods, and food waste all tend to get mixed together and nothing is recovered for reuse. To encourage team members to place items in the right bin, station recycling bins, compost bins, paper shredding, cardboard shredding, and trash bins in a visible place where everyone has access (paper shredding bins should be padlocked to prevent unauthorized access). This is a good way to encourage physical movement as well.
Once the bins are in place, label each one with titles, icons, and colors to differentiate them. Additionally, place signs above that specify what can and can’t be placed in each bin. If recyclables such as plastic and glass are going to be separated, it’s especially important to label each one clearly. Likewise, a compost bin for fruit and vegetable scraps should be separated from one that is intended for other kinds of food scraps, like a bokashi compost.
Breakroom
In the breakroom, there are several items that can be substituted for an instant reduction in waste:
- Replace plastic water bottles with water glasses and install a water filtration system for filling each employee’s reusable water bottle or glass.
- Install a coffee machine with a washable filter to remove the need for single-use pods. Encourage employees to bring washable coffee cups or provide mugs.
- Provide bee’s wrap for covering leftovers in place of plastic wrap or aluminum foil.
Bathroom
The three main items that produce waste in the bathroom are paper towels, toilet paper, and liquid soap packets. To reduce waste, use:
- Hand towels (laundered regularly) or a hand dryer if you have renewable power
- Bars of hand soap sold without packaging
- Sustainable toilet paper
Cleaning Room
Cleaning supplies generally consist of cleaning chemicals, such as detergents and bleach, along with sponges, mops, and wipes. To reduce waste:
- Use washable rags for cleaning rather than disposable wipes.
- Replace harsh, chemical-based cleaning supplies with all-natural, biodegradable alternatives where possible.
- Dispose of hazardous chemical waste properly through a hazardous waste management provider.
Lunch Room
Buying lunch is a common practice for many office workers in the U.S. However, this often comes with waste from take-out containers and leftover food. For a zero-waste office:
- Make sure employees have enough time to eat lunch at a restaurant or cafe before returning to work.
- Encourage employees to bring their own reusable containers.
- Bring a packed lunch. This is a great way to save money as well.
- Reduce food waste by ordering a smaller-size lunch or taking leftovers home.
- Provide compost bins for fruit peels and eggshells, clearly labeled with the items that can and can’t be added.
Printing
The average U.S. office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of paper each year, making a reduction in paper usage a priority for a zero-waste office. To reduce paper:
- Only print when absolutely necessary.
- Keep communication electronic as much as possible.
- Print double-sided.
- Use recycled paper.
- Only use new paper that is sustainable forestry initiative-certified.
Desk
From staples to post-it notes and tissues, there are several kinds of waste that can be reduced at the desk:
- Use eco-friendly office supplies, such as biodegradable tape and recycled paper post-its (these can later be recycled again).
- Use reusable office supplies, such as paper clips instead of staples.
- Encourage employees to bring a handkerchief instead of using tissues.
- Purchase tissues made from recycled office paper.
- Once office furniture needs to be replaced, consider purchasing new ones made from recycled plastic.
- Use electronic devices with care, maintain them properly, and send them to an e-waste recycler when they are no longer fixable.
- If electronic devices must be upgraded, sell or donate the current devices rather than throwing them away.
Packaging Waste
Plastic-based packaging—including bubble wrap and plastic straps—tends to be discarded after delivery. To reduce waste from packaging:
- Use reusable materials like shredded paper and cardboard as box liners (instead of bubble wrap), and buy boxes made from recycled cardboard.
- Use biodegradable packing tape.
- When you receive a delivery, the boxes can be shredded, collapsed and stored for reuse, or recycled.
- If your company sells a recyclable product, offer to take the casing back. For example, in the cannabis industry, many vape pen manufacturers provide recycling boxes for used devices as part of their cannabis waste management program.
In-Office Recycling Program
Sending materials for recycling is great. However, there might be some items that you can recycle within the office itself. These include a few of the ideas mentioned above:
- Shred paper and cardboard for use in packages.
- Provide paper clip collection boxes (divided by size) to gather paper clips for reuse.
- For all other recyclables, provide clearly labeled, accessible recycling bins that separate the materials according to categories set by local and state laws.
Zero-Waste Energy
Electricity is used for several purposes in offices, including lighting, heating and cooling, internet access, charging devices, powering devices, and most importantly—making coffee. For a zero-waste office, aim to reduce the amount of electricity used and obtain power from a sustainable source:
- Use windows and skylights instead of light bulbs.
- Use energy-efficient LED lighting when lighting is needed.
- Turn off and unplug devices (printers, copiers, computers) when not in use.
- Only use heating and cooling if it’s really needed. If your building has central heating, set the thermostat to a maximum of 68°F in winter. In summer, don’t set it any lower than 78°F.
Zero-Waste Water
Most people nowadays are conscious of minimizing their use of water. In the office, the main uses of water are in the bathroom, in the break room, and for cleaning. To reduce water use:
- Make sure there are no leaking taps, and have any leaks fixed immediately.
- Use dual-flush toilets rather than models with a single button.
- Install taps with aerators in the bathrooms and kitchen.
- Put up signs in the bathroom and kitchen reminding employees to use only as much water as necessary.
- Install a water-efficient dishwasher in the break room if you go through a lot of glasses, plates, and mugs.
Zero-Waste Commute
The final source of waste in the office is the commute between the workplace and employees’ homes. While this isn’t something you can solve directly, you can still offer incentives for carpooling, using public transport, using electric vehicles (powered by renewable energy), or better yet—walking or biking to work.
In cases where the work location is flexible, allowing employees to work from home even a few days a week can make a big difference to commute-related waste.
Celebrate Your Achievements
The zero-waste journey is exciting, empowering, collaborative, and never over. From the very first achievement, celebrate your team’s zero-waste efforts with email updates, shoutouts to colleagues, and eco-friendly prizes such as a reusable water bottle or coffee mug.
Once you’ve made significant progress, remember to communicate your achievements to your customers. Consider that 75% of millennials are more likely to support a brand that prioritizes sustainability, and some will even pay more if they know you’re going zero-waste. Certified green businesses typically fetch higher premiums while saving money, so you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Save Money & Win Customer Loyalty with a Zero-Waste Office
Transitioning to a zero-waste office takes time, effort, and some financial investment at the start, but—as these zero-waste tips have shown—you can take it one step at a time.
As your company starts to invest in reusables and launch initiatives to reduce waste, you should start to see financial savings, a transformation in the company culture, and positive feedback from customers.
Take a step towards a zero-waste office today.
