Moving towards a greener, more environmentally friendly life is something that many people are trying to do. At home, cutting back on waste and being kind to the environment is not too much of a challenge. In addition to going green, you can also make your yard look nice with lawn care services and planting trees, flowers, and plants to help our earth look beautiful. 

However, at work, where someone else is usually calling the shots, going green can be a little harder. Keep reading to find easy ways to go green while at work. 

Educate Your Coworkers 

The first and most important step towards going green at work is educating your coworkers and getting their support to help you be more environmentally friendly. An easy way to educate those in your workplace is simply to hold a meeting or hand out flyers detailing what you are trying to do, and how others can help. No battle can be fought alone, and trying to help the environment is no exception. 

Even if other staff members are not supportive in the beginning, persevere and try your best to stay kind to the environment while gently encouraging those around you to make the office a better place to work. Of course, never be too pushy or shame those around you, as this will only make others angry.

Go Paperless 

At many offices and other places of work, going paperless is becoming increasingly popular whether you’re a small business enterprise or a larger company. Paper is one of the biggest forms of waste in our world, and despite what many believe, only about 10% of paper products actually get recycled. In places of work, especially offices, going paperless or virtually paperless is one of the easiest ways to reduce paper. It can be as simple as sending an email to a coworker with information instead of putting up a flyer. Scanning papers into computers to save them will save both the time it takes to file them, as well as the paper files typically used to organize documents. 

Paperless accounting is another easy way to drastically cut down on paper use. By simply entering information into the computer and never printing it out or making copies, thousands of pieces of paper could be saved every year. Accounting is most easily done through computer programs these days, so there is really no need for the numbers to leave the computer screen and use another piece of paper. 

Have a Waste-Free Lunch 

Plastic bags are certainly the easiest, most common way to pack food for a lunch. It's easy to bring several plastic bags to work, eat the food out of them, and then simply throw the bag away. However, the environmental damage that plastic is doing is ridiculous. In America, over 150 million tons of single use plastic is produced every year. Nearly all of this plastic will eventually end up in the oceans or in a landfill. The good news is that there are dozens of different options to plastic. 

To replace a plastic lunch bag, reusable sandwich bags are a great choice. Just rinse them out every day after work. Reusable tupperware containers are also an easy and affordable choice. If washing out containers and bags is too much work, try buying biodegradable plastic bags, which are pricier, but will compost exponentially faster than regular plastic. Try buying or collecting reusable bags.

Instead of a paper or plastic coffee cup, just bring your own! When you order a coffee, just hand the barista your cup. Many coffee shops will give a small discount for bringing a reusable cup. 

Silverware is also easy to reuse. Either bring your own from home, purchase a fork/knife/spoon combination piece, or even bring your plastic silverware home, wash it, and reuse it. 

The Bottom Line

Clearly, going green at work is not hard! With a little extra planning, anyone can be more environmentally friendly while at work.