World Environment Day 2019

05 June 2019

Today is World Environment Day. Each year across the globe individuals and companies alike are urged to reflect on their impact on our environment.

It’s a topic very much at the forefront of the media with some of our most loved and highly influential icons such as David Attenborough highlighting the importance of reducing our footprint on Earth and getting behind the need for change.

In the spirit of the day we have come up with some ways that you can be more conscious, around the office and at home, of your individual impact.

What can you do in the office:

Reuse - Invest in a reusable glass or biodegradable flask for water and hot drinks at your desk (instead of buying bottled water or one use coffee cups)
Tupperware - Take a little extra time to prepare your lunch and bring it in with you in a reusable container instead of buying packaged food every day.
Recycle - Make sure you are fully utilising any recycling bins provided. If your office doesnt have them yet, suggest it to HR.
Shut down - Turn your computers off when you’re not using them, leaving them on standby still wastes lots of energy
Lift share – For those of you living close to each other why not consider travelling in together?
Printing – Do you really need to print that? Is it just likely to go in the bin in the long term?
Utensils – Try and steer clear of the plastic utensils from cafes etc and invest in some metal cutlery that you can wash and reuse!
Small plant - Adding a plant on your desk not only makes it more appealing to work at, but it also absorbs pollutants and emits oxygen (and makes you more productive).

What you can do at home:

Eat less meat – Did you know that not having red meat, even if it’s just for two or three days a week can have quite a significant impact on reducing your carbon footprint?!
Reduce food wastage - 7.3 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK every year. This isn’t just a huge waste of food and money, it adds to the amount of CO2 being created in landfills. Meal prepping and being savvy about ‘use by’ dates can help.
Turn it off - Don’t leave lights and electrical items on needlessly. You might also find a nice surprise in your energy bills!
Grab yourself a canvas bag – Ditch the plastic and keep a reusable canvas bag on you, much better for carrying the heavier things and will reduce your shopping bill by removing all those pesky 5p & 10ps.
Have your food shop delivered - Home delivery is like the public transport of groceries. Instead of having 20 odd cars make their way to the supermarket – one van drives around delivering to everyone in the area. Additionally, it means you’re less likely to impulse buy which can help to reduce any waste food.
Cleaning products - A lot of cleaning products include harmful chemicals that aren’t environmentally friendly to create or dispose of. Repeated exposure to these chemicals can also affect your health as well as the environment. Green cleaning products use more natural and organic methods of cleaning which are far less harmful.

In order to do our bit we are also offering 20% off any in-house training courses booked between now and 28th June. We'll send our expert tutors to you to save a large team travelling. Find out what training courses we offer here and call us on 0800 052 2424 to take advantage.

Help us to save our planet to protect future generations by taking part in the above. If you have any further suggestions we would love to hear from you.