Can you cut 1 Tonne of carbon pollution out of your life?
Take the challengeMost of our time is spent at our place of work - around 40 hours each week! Reducing the carbon footprint of your workplace is just as important as at home. Here are a few ways you can get started.
1. Switch to padded envelopes that don't have plastic bubble liner
Plastic is often hidden and we can quickly find that we're contributing to landfill waste and ocean waste without realising. Plastic lined envelopes are enormous waste contributors that can be easily avoided, simply by buying a non-plastic lined alternative.
Read more: Green your office technology
2. Stop junk mail
Who reads junk mail anyway? Often a "No Junk Mail" sign on the letterbox is ignored by local distributors, whether it's the pizza place down the road, estate agents, or when election time is around the corner. To prevent this influx of wasteful paper filling your letterbox, contact the companies directly or visit the Australian Catalogue Association
For more details on how to stop junk mail, visit our guide here
What you can do
Say 'NO' to wasteful packaging, plastic bags, and bottled water
2,265
Tonnes of CO2
savings pledged
savings pledged
3. Receive your bank statements online rather than via mail
Opting out of receiving your bank statements via mail is easy. Just visit your bank's website or call them up and request that your statements are emailed to you.
Have you learned whether your bank supports fossil fuels? Maybe it's time to divest your money! Learn how to seek out the best ethical investments here
Read more: Protesters are setting up camp outside Commonwealth Bank branches
4. Transform the water cooler at work: request paper rather than plastic cups, or encourage other employees to BYO cups
Have you had the best conversations with your colleagues around the water cooler? Use it as an opportunity to make real change and encourage the use of recyclable paper cups rather than plastic cups! Every piece of plastic kept out of the ocean makes a difference.
Read more: Plastic found in the ocean becomes powerful environmental art
5. Refill your ink cartridges instead of buying new ones
Australians throw away more than 18 million printer cartridges each year unnecessarily. This amounts to 5,000 tonnes of material with chemicals that have the potential to contaminate our water. A better, more planet-friendly alternative is to either refill the cartridges to ensure that they last, or recycle them with Planet Arc
Read more: 5 important items that need to be recycled, here's how!
6. Take your own lunch to work: bring your own cutlery as well as reusable container
Save money, waste, and look after your body simply by taking your lunch to work. Avoid the morning rush by making it the night before, or make and freeze a big batch of food on the weekend to keep for the rest of the week!
Check out this infographic to make you think twice about wasting your food!
Or read this guide to a waste-free work lunch
7. Set up recycling stations
I like to think that when people can recycle, they will! When recycling stations are frequent around the workplace - each with a list of items that can be recycled - reducing your waste starts to become easy!
Read more: Forget glass, plastic, and paper: this town in Japan separates its rubbish into 34 categories!
What you can do
Recycle Recycle Recycle... At home, school, and out
1,415
Tonnes of CO2
savings pledged
savings pledged
8. Use recycled paper and green office equipment
Choosing environmentally friendly products are a great way to help green your office! When so many sustainable options are available in today's society, choosing products that won't harm the environment is easy!
Read this inspiring interview with Heather Leslie, the founder of eco-office supplies
9. Implement default double sided printing
Literally halve your use of paper simply by implementing a double-sided printing standard. And keep scrap paper in mind as a sustainable option when you're printing unofficial work.
And now paper is going solar! Read more: Foldable solar paper can charge your smart phone in 2.5 hours
10. Setup a printer-friendly signature for all staff. eg "Please consider the environment before printing this email".
This signature makes people aware that your workplace is environmentally conscious and frugal with waste. It sends an important, though subtle, message about the actions that must be taken to live sustainably in the world today. And hopefully, people will consider the environment before printing an email!
Check out this foolproof toolkit on greening your workplace!
1 Million Women is more than our name, it's our goal! We're building a movement of strong, inspirational women acting on climate change by leading low-carbon lives. To make sure that our message has an impact, we need more women adding their voice. We need to be louder. Joining us online means your voice and actions can be counted. We need you.We're building a movement of women fighting climate change through the way we live.
