How to turn your office into a circular and eco-friendly workspace in 2022
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To reduce your company’s environmental impact, there are several levels of action you can take:
- Evolving the company’s activities,
- Developing individual initiatives among employees,
- Implementing actions in the office.
In this article, we will focus on the last one. On its own, it is not enough, but it can already activate some powerful levers.
There are indeed many aspects of company life that can be taken into account: energy, IT and electronic equipment, mobility and travel, supplies, office layout, and more. These topics are so numerous and broad that it is necessary to prioritize them and rank the actions that follow.
Introducing reusable water bottles to limit single-use cups is certainly a simple and quick action to implement, but it cannot replace a deeper analysis of possible savings on the building’s energy performance, for example.
This prioritization can be carried out after the impact measurement phase, through a carbon assessment for instance, in order to understand which actions should be implemented first.
Here is an overview of a few key issues and levers to activate:
Commit to a more responsible digital approach
The environmental footprint of digital technology is growing sharply. If you are reading this blog, you probably already know that. 😉
The impact comes less from the use of devices than from their manufacturing. However, there are still habits you can adopt to reduce your daily footprint and move toward a more responsible digital approach.
Bonus: this can also help you save money.
- Reduce your equipment rate,
- Extend the lifespan of existing equipment, for example by choosing refurbished devices or outsourcing the management of your IT fleet,
- Adopt more restrained and responsible practices to reduce energy consumption,
- Systematically organize end-of-life collection for reuse or recycling.
Responsible digital technology is primarily about greater equipment sobriety, rather than infrastructure and data centers, which are becoming increasingly optimized.
Reduce energy consumption
Reducing energy consumption sometimes requires significant upfront investment, but it can generate real financial gains and a substantial environmental impact over the long term.
However, make sure to carry out a comparative analysis between the environmental benefit of the action implemented and the preservation of the existing situation.
For example, a laser printer that is still in very good condition may consume more energy, but its carbon impact may be lower than buying a brand-new inkjet printer.
Some possible levers include:
- Adjusting heating, which accounts for 50% of office energy consumption according to ADEME: smart temperature control systems, reducing heating by one or two degrees, and so on.
- Saving electricity: low-energy light bulbs, limiting artificial lighting to reduce lighting costs, installing motion sensors in rooms that are rarely used.
- Using water responsibly: cold-water taps, water-saving installations in rooms such as toilets, with dual-flush systems, or kitchens, with appliances that have strong energy ratings.
- Turning off devices that can be switched off at night, such as screens.
Choose eco-friendly office equipment
Office layout has a very strong environmental impact. In 2019, 93,500 tonnes of office furniture were collected from French companies that considered they no longer needed it, and only 4% is currently reused, according to Valdelia.
The remaining 96% partly corresponds to recycling, but also to incineration and landfill.
At company level, it is possible to take fairly simple action:
- Reuse equipment internally as much as possible or make it available to other organizations. For example, could the cafeteria furniture be reused in a meeting room, or donated to an association?
- Buy or rent reused furniture. An ergonomic chair that has already spent a few short years in a company can, after refurbishment, fully meet your needs, while offering better quality and/or financial savings compared with a new product.
- Prioritize furniture made from recycled and/or recyclable materials, as well as bio-based and local materials such as French wood.
The hardest part is often identifying what can be reused and finding the right players to support furniture reuse and upcycling.
Fairspace addresses this need by offering sustainable workspace design solutions for companies, imagining and fitting out workspaces based on the principles of the circular economy and quality of working life.
Reduce waste and encourage recycling
Between 120 and 140 kg of waste are produced each year by every employee in the tertiary sector, according to ADEME.
This impressive volume of products destined for disposal calls for a few simple initiatives to reduce waste:
- Set up compartmentalized sorting areas and always give users the option to sort their waste.
- Use paper and ink responsibly by configuring printers properly and raising team awareness, as well as sourcing certified paper and recycled ink cartridges.
- Invest in reusable tableware and coffee machines without capsules.
These 4 eco-friendly practices to implement in the workplace will not only help you save money, but also have a significant impact on our environment.
Although they may seem to require financial effort, implementation work, and changes in everyday habits, they will be worth it in the long run.
This article is a collaboration with Fairspace, the start-up creating sustainable workspaces.
Fairspace offers a turnkey solution for companies and public organizations that want to design and furnish their workspaces sustainably. They support the entire project, from ideation through to the final installation of the teams.
Their approach, focused on working conditions and quality of life, helps drive user adoption and ensure the long-term use of the spaces created.
Beyond aesthetics, the spaces they create are above all useful, comfortable, and sustainable.
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