This guest post is by Enas Rauf who was an intern in the Foundation team during July and August 2022.
A carbon footprint is the measure of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere as a result of economic or human activity. With small changes, we can get big results! If everyone did these little changes, it would help us reduce our impact on the environment and help us achieve a healthier lifestyle. Here are some tips to help you get started!
7 ways you can reduce your carbon footprint whilst working:
- Turn off everything – Make sure to turn off all lights at the end of the day as well as turning off laptops and phones when you’re not using it.
- Use natural light – Instead of using artificial light, you can use natural light by opening blinds, curtains and windows. You can also use reflective surfaces like mirrors or white paint to bounce more daylight into your work. This can also help improve your productivity and help reduce work from home burnout.
- Change your search engine to help plant trees – Switching to Ecosia search engine means that some of your searches do have some positive biodiversity effects.
- Reduce excessive emails and large attachments – Did you know the average working person adds 136kg of carbon dioxide emissions just from their email activity per year. Emails with a few words can be unnecessary and waste energy. Messaging apps are often more efficient for short informal messages. And instead of attaching documents, you can share links, saving multiple copies and allowing for more efficient collaboration.
- Delete any unused files, emails or apps – Clear out old and/or unnecessary emails from your inbox as well as any files in your cloud storage. You should also delete any unused apps as these can remain active even when they’re closed.
- Add plants to your office – Houseplants are a great way to increase your indoor air quality as well as looking aesthetic. Plants can absorb carbon dioxide and transform it to oxygen. They can also increase productivity, creativity and well-being as plants create a peaceful and stress-free atmosphere.
- Choose Eco-friendly office equipment – Invest in recycled paper, Eco-friendly pencils, refillable pens, and recyclable paper clips. If you do need to print, make sure to use both sides!
If you want to learn more about reducing your carbon footprint whilst working, then make sure to register for this online session next month with our partners Heart of the City!
Reducing your digital emissions Tickets, Mon 5 Sep 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite