Simple ways to promote office sustainability

This year’s Earth Day theme is ‘Restore Our Earth’ which focuses on reducing our impact on the planet as we recover from the effects of the pandemic, as well as how we help to repair the damage we’ve done. With sustainability becoming more and more front-of-mind each day, we should ask ourselves, what part we can play in saving the planet. 

In light of Earth Day, we talk about what we’re doing as a business to be as kind to the planet as possible, including ways to promote office sustainability. 

Firstly, it's about awareness 

“We are at a unique stage in our history. Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet, and never before have we had the power to do something about that”

David Attenborough - Blue Planet

We’re lucky enough to have our Falmouth office on the harbourside, with a wonderful sea view that actually exposes us to various sustainability issues first-hand. Our occasional trips on the quayside to fish out the most recent plastic offenders means that it broadens our awareness of the problem. It’s never been an uncommon sight to see various members of the team out doing lunchtime beach cleans. As a result, many have become natural eco-warriors, simply through their working environment. We believe that sustainability has the power to unite the team to create a culture and work-life balance. 

Our Snr Content & Outreach Exec, Polly says; “For as long as I can remember, there would be bottlecaps, lego, bits of fishing net and brightly colour plastic, alongside some pretty bits of sea glass on various desks around the office that had been scooped up from the beach. I’ve naturally become more aware of the issue from simply coming into work which I’m grateful for because it’s shaped my understanding and now I’m more inclined to pick up plastic myself when I spot it’. 

Keeping the office green 

As an agency that values sustainability, we take consideration in everything we do to make sure that our office is as green as possible. Developing an eco-sensible workplace means that we need to work together as a team to create proactive eco-friendly habits in the office for the objective of sustainability. 

Our Team Administrator, Hannah, does all that she can to make sure that we adopt a sustainable lifestyle on a day-to-day basis. She says; 

“Personally, I'm a big advocate for making our planet and the way we live more sustainable and I'm not alone in that within our team. We are very lucky to be based right on the harbour, however, it also means that we regularly see first hand the impact that things like plastic pollution have on the environment and the places we all love. It is, therefore, really important to us as a company to do everything we can to minimise our impact on earth where possible and encourage our team to make greener choices”

Here are some simple ways we promote office sustainability, that others can do too: 

Reusable coffee cups

If one thing is for sure, we’re an office of #coffeelovers. With an enviable amount of coffee shops down the high street, coffee runs are regular so we have reusable coffee cups supplied to us from 2 Minute Beach Clean.

Eco-friendly products 

To keep the day-to-day runnings of the office going, we make sure to have a stock of some of the best eco-friendly products, including: 

• Who Gives A Crap toilet paper that is completely plastic-free
• Ecover and Bio-D refill bottles of washing up liquid, hand sanitiser, hand wash and multi-purpose cleaning spray
• The Green Sack bin bags are made from 100% recycled polythene and come in large boxes
• Cheeky Panda kitchen roll and paper towels which are plastic-free and made from bamboo
• A majority of our team have swapped to plant-based milk in their tea/coffee which we provide for free in the office. 

Recycling stations 

Recycling everything we can is important to us and we provide options for just about anything we might need to throw away. There’s even a station for Tetra Paks which have increased due to our uptake in plant-based milk. 

Refill station

As well as having our own water filter machine in the office so people don't bring plastic water bottles, we’re also a registered refilling station for any member of the public with a water bottle! We’re proud to have joined the Refill Revolution by teaming up with Refill, who are on a mission to make living with less plastic easier and stop plastic pollution. Refill works by connecting people with a location so that they can refill without waste. There are over 30,000 locations and we’re proud to be one of them. 

SAS Plastic Free Champion

We’re proud to be awarded and recognised as a Plastic Free Champion by Surfers Against Sewage. In SAS’ movement, local businesses have been rising to the challenge of removing single-use plastic, including bottles, coffee cups, food packaging and so on, in order to drive the change on our high streets. This means we’re part of Plastic Free Falmouth, a local segment of the global movement that wants to stop damaging the pollution of our planet with single-use plastic. 

Earth Day tells us that their theme ‘Restore Our Earth’ should remind us of the opportunities that lay ahead and that “we must take action not because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it - a healthy planet is not an option - it is a necessity”. That’s why we value sustainability as a business and if other businesses follow suit by introducing small changes into their every day, it would all help towards a healthier planet. You can get involved and watch Earth Day live here.