As we learn more about the impact that humanity is having on the environment, business owners and office managers are beginning to look for new ways in which they can reduce their company's carbon footprint and improve their sustainability. However, if you are like many people, then you may not know where to start when trying to make your office more sustainable.While making your office environmentally-friendly can seem like an overwhelming prospect at first, simple steps such as switching out products you use every day with sustainable alternatives can go a long way in making your business more eco-friendly. 

To help get you started, here is a look at a few sustainable products that you can invest in to make your office more eco-friendly.

Kitchen Supplies

An easy way to start improving your business's sustainability would be by removing single-use plastic products such as plates, cups, and utensils from your office's kitchen and/or break room. 

Instead, you should look into investing in compostable alternatives. The fact is that single-use plastic products have a larger impact on the environment than we realize. Not only is the process of making plastic bad for the environment, but plastic takes hundreds, or even thousands, of years to break down. Therefore, single-use plastic products take up a great deal of space in landfills and plastic from these products can end up making their way into our water supply.

Switching to compostable plates, utensils, and cups is an easy way to greatly improve your business's sustainability. Even if your city does not have a composting program, compostable materials will break down in landfills in a matter of months, rather than centuries.

Ditch Traditional K-Cups

After cups, plates, and utensils, another primary source of single-use plastic in many offices across the country is K-Cups from Keurig coffee makers. Keurig machines have quickly taken over offices everywhere by offering a quick, simple solution to coffee and one of the biggest reasons it can be so convenient is the K-Cup. 

That seemingly harmless K-Cup is the king of single-use plastic that may seem insignificant but they add up fast. Like other plastics, most K-Cups end up in landfills, and Americans are using millions of K-Cups each day with over 41% of Americans owning single-cup coffee makers.

Fortunately, there are ways in which businesses can continue to enjoy the convenience of Keurig and other single-cup coffee makers while reducing their carbon footprint. Companies are now making compostable K-Cups that provide a more sustainable alternative. 

Switch to Green Cleaning Products

Switching to biodegradable cleaning products is another great way to become more sustainable as an office. 

Most conventional cleaning products used by businesses contain a variety of toxic chemicals. Not only can this be bad for you and your employees (fumes from these chemicals can pose a health hazard) but these chemicals are also bad for the environment. 

Fortunately, there are cleaning products available that are made from natural ingredients. These products are not only cost-effective, but they are also biodegradable and will not pollute the environment.    

While being more sustainable in the workplace can seem like an overwhelming task, there are simple and affordable steps that you can take at home and in the office to reduce your carbon footprint. Contact us to learn more about steps that you can take to be more sustainable in your everyday life.

Going Paperless in Your Office

Another easy way to conserve at the office is to make the commitment to go fully paperless. You can use apps like PandaDoc for any important documents and use Google Docs for collaborating, writing, and almost everything else.

Your Next Step

Change starts with the individual. Make a point to only use environmentally-friendly cleaning products at home and work, get your office to start buying compostable K-Cups, plates, forks, and other kitchenware.