Most people spend a reasonable amount of time at work; therefore, it is inevitable that your workspace will impact some of your behaviours. Companies need to use this to the advantage of our planet. They should make a clear stand against plastic waste and push for a more eco-friendly working environment.

Many people will be returning back into the office following the lift of restrictions within the UK. Before the staff start coming back in, here are some top tips on how to ditch the plastic & keep your workspace fantastic:

• Encourage everyone to BYOB

Every year in the UK, 7.7 billion plastic water bottles are used, with the average person using roughly 150 bottles. The unfortunate thing is most bottles end up in our rivers and our seas, adding to the pollution problem we are fighting against.

We would advise two things, encourage people to purchase their water bottles or, as a company, invest in getting some eco-friendly branded reusable bottles; people love to stay hydrated during their commutes to and from home, so help by creating a solution!

Make it easier for them whilst they are in the office by providing a safe tap to drink from. This will give them a point to refill their bottles from too. In addition, make sure you can offer glass cups and mugs for them to drink from instead of disposable plastic cups.

• Review your suppliers

Many companies have a good relationship with their suppliers |& should feel comfortable enough to ask questions or express any concerns around the product &/or the amount of plastic packaging it comes in. We would advise you to set up a meeting & bring them up to speed with your plans to take plastic pollution more seriously.

Ask them to send multiple options for you to select from. Many suppliers have enough variety on their books to meet the needs of their clients. If you make this of high importance, they will do their part.

If they don’t have any alternatives, encourage them to look into it more & consider switching suppliers until they can meet those needs.

• Recycle, Reduce, Reuse

This isn’t just a mantra that serves us all well at home; this can be adopted within the workplace.

Most offices produce a high amount of recyclable waste, so creating clear guidelines on how to recycle & what to do with waste is so important.

Put together some infographics and visual aids to help people know what to do. Provide as many recycling bins as possible & make sure they are labelled clearly.

Another idea is to create a ‘scrap paper box’, instead of throwing away unused paper, you can allow people to access it to take notes on etc.

• Decorate (Sustainably)

A report shows that we dispose of over 300,000 tonnes of reusable furniture in the UK every single year. But, unfortunately, most of the stuff ends up in landfills instead of being reused or upcycled.

There are so many sites, including Shpock, Gumtree & eBay, that allow you to recycle. Most new furniture comes wrapped in loads of plastic; using secondhand goods helps you put your stand on sustainability into practice!

• Offset with yayzy

Did you know you can work with yayzy to offset your businesses carbon footprint?

Contact us hello@yayzy.com to find out more.