Litter on our roads, beaches, and in our oceans is a far too common occurrence, and it’s a problem in communities worldwide that severely impacts our ecosystem and marine life. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average Australian generates slightly over 2,000kg of trash each year and spends $1,266 on items that they never use. Every year around $3.5k worth of food is wasted by each household, and Australia produces over 67 million tonnes of waste; however, only 37% of it gets recycled.
According to The Environmental Research & Education Foundation, remote workers play a huge role in reducing waste. The widespread adoption of working remotely has reduced 67% of business waste. In addition, the majority of remote employees have switched to digital solutions, which reduces paper waste, and the use of reusable plates and cups at home, results in less plastic and paper waste in the workplace.
While your employees might already be recycling and sorting waste at home to help minimise their household’s carbon footprint. However, it’s always a great idea for a business to encourage employees to adopt a more eco-friendly and waste-free lifestyle. So here are some tips for helping your remote employees to reduce their waste while working from home.
Motivate Employees for a Virtual Clean Up
There are many ways for businesses to initiate a ‘clean up movement’ by providing eco-friendly gloves, and bags to employees and make an activity out of it. Ask them to collect recyclables and waste around their own surroundings and report back to the team, making it a little competitive, and inspiring for others.
Encouraging the Team to be Eco-Conscious Online Shoppers
Since the pandemic, everyone has been doing more online shopping than they did before the advent of COVID. However, many are unaware of another disaster that occurs when we shop online. The plastic packaging of our online purchases takes an average of 12 minutes to transfer from our hands to the garbage.
Single-use plastic packaging waste rose over 300 percent due to lockdown measures. Sharing this information with your employees may encourage them to think twice before purchasing something new.
Give Employees the Green Bug
Sharing eco-minded ideas with your employees is a great approach to ensure your entire company joins in the waste-reduction effort. Try giving out reusable water bottles, coffee mugs and shopping bags to encourage employees to work towards reducing waste.
Preparing their Own Meals
Educate employees to be more conscious of food and plastic wastage by encouraging them to cook their own meals. In 2018, over 5 million tonnes of fast-food packaging were thrown away. Your employees can cut this down by slowly shifting to a home cooking alternative that is healthier, cheaper, and waste efficient. Ask them to opt-out of certain single-use packaging products, such as bags, napkins and cutlery, and choose more eco-friendly packaging options.
As a business, you can organise virtual cooking events or ask employees to share their favourite recipes with others to keep them motivated in tough times.
Organise an Art Day
Employees who are working remotely find that indulging in some creativity is a great way to pass the time. Companies can organise group arts and crafts activities to engage those stuck at home. Choose a topic related to household wastage and get your employees and their families on board to build, paint or draw to inspire ideas and raise awareness. Share their masterpieces internally or on your social media pages to inspire and hold a discussion around those creative pieces. You can even have a contest with prizes for the craftiest idea!
Educate your Clients on Waste Reduction
Launch a client awareness campaign to educate them on their involvement in waste reduction. Even outside the walls of your workplace, your company can make a significant difference. COS® offers a variety of environmentally friendly products to help organisations achieve their sustainability goals. By choosing biodegradable and recycled products, your clients can make a statement about their environmental stance while doing the right thing for the world.
