Earth Day seems like a new concept, but this day of celebrating nature and fighting against climate change has been running since 1970 – unfortunately, not many things have changed since then. Considering our planet’s challenges, it should be Earth Day every day, but that doesn’t mean we can’t put extra effort into the fight today.
Why do we celebrate earth day on April 22?
Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 every year to raise awareness about environmental issues and promote sustainability. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, and it was organized by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson to bring attention to environmental issues and to inspire people to take action to protect the planet.
April 22 was chosen as the date for Earth Day because it is the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of fall in the Southern Hemisphere. This day marks a time of renewal and growth, making it an appropriate time to focus on the environment and the need to protect it for future generations. Additionally, April 22 was a weekday that year, allowing for greater participation in the various events and activities planned for the day.
How can you celebrate Earth Day in your office?
When it comes to businesses, deciding to go green can be quite the challenge, but there are many things that companies can do to do their part in the climate change fight and simultaneously send a strong message to their employees and clients.
In fact, in a survey by Sendle, 75% of consumers say that sustainability is extremely important to them. Just another reason to start doing the work and offset all companies’ carbon footprints!
There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day in your office and encourage your colleagues to be more environmentally conscious. Here are some ideas:
- Organize a recycling program: Set up recycling bins in common areas of the office and encourage everyone to recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminium.
- Plant a tree: If you have an outdoor space, organize a tree-planting event. Trees help absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide habitats for wildlife.
- Host a sustainable potluck: Encourage your colleagues to bring in dishes made with locally-sourced, organic ingredients. Use reusable plates, cups, and utensils to reduce waste.
- Go paperless: Encourage your team to use digital documents and emails instead of printing out documents. If printing is necessary, use both sides of the paper to reduce waste.
- Turn off electronics: Encourage your colleagues to turn off their computers and other electronics when they leave the office for the day to conserve energy.
- Organize a clean-up event: If there is a park or green space near your office, organize a clean-up event to pick up litter and debris.
- Spread awareness: Use Earth Day as an opportunity to raise awareness about environmental issues and encourage your colleagues to take action to protect the planet.
Remember, small actions can make a big difference in protecting our planet, so start small and encourage others to do the same! To help you make this change – and in honour of Earth Day – we came up with a few ways you as a business can easily make your company more sustainable.
Allow remote or hybrid work
Since the Covid pandemic, remote work has become the norm for most office-based businesses. If your company doesn’t require your employees to come into the office to get their jobs done, you might want to consider allowing them to work remotely or in a hybrid manner for good. Reducing commutes to the office means using fewer cars, therefore lowering your employees’ carbon footprint. But that’s not the only positive outcome you could get from this decision.
Most people love working from home at least a couple of days a week. Giving your employees this opportunity will make them happier and more productive and allow your company to become more competitive when hiring new talents.
Provide public transit commuter benefits
If the kind of business you run does require your employees to come into the office every day, an incentive to convince them to use public transportation instead of their cars might be giving them commuter benefits. In countries like France, companies already offer benefits for people deciding to take their bike or public transportation instead of cars, so this option must be working!
Make your office more sustainable
There are many things you can do to make your office more sustainable. The easiest ways would be to limit printing, never leave your equipment on at night, always be mindful of switching lights off when going out of a room, start a composting bin, only use eco-conscious brands and so on but you can also take it a step further and start using a green web hosting solution and choosing a bank that doesn’t support fossil fuel.
All these small things seem insignificant if taken by themselves but become a huge step when done together. Plus, making all these efforts in the office will eventually inspire your employees to reproduce them at home, creating a virtuous circle.
Be mindful of your carbon footprint as a team
When running a business – or even just living life in general – is almost impossible to reach net zero. By simply existing as humans, we are already polluting the earth, so the best thing we can do to have the least impact on the planet is trying to make the best decisions we can and be mindful of our carbon footprint.
When it comes to teams, one thing that you can be mindful of is organising events and get-togethers that are the least polluting as possible. This means no wasted food nor disposable plastic, but also seminars that are created with sustainability in mind and team-building events that don’t cost the earth.
You can also offset your carbon footprint using some great organizations such as Cool Effect, Terrapass, South Pole, Native Energy, COTAP.org, Clear, Myclimate or Nori.
Use Earth Day to teach your employees about sustainability
Thinking about switching your lifestyle can be daunting but most changes that we can do as individuals are easy to implement and don’t require additional time or money. To help your employees learn more about sustainability, you can organise some fun activities to do together. From a virtual quiz on ecology to a gardening workshop or a vegan cooking class, there are many things you can do as a team that can be fun, help you bond and teach you to be more eco-conscious!
