The HR department is responsible for recruitment, employment policies, payroll and benefits which means they can have a big impact on how sustainable a business is and can introduce and encourage eco-friendly practices. We’re going to take a look at some of the initiatives your HR department could implement. Consider these, then put the most workable solutions forward for consideration if you want your business to be more eco-friendly.
Promote paperless payslips
Firstly, let’s talk about payslips. How do you get yours? In the mail? Handed to you? Or emailed? The latter is an easy way to eliminate unnecessary paper. With more and more HR tools available, it’s never been easier to safely and securely receive your payslip via email or online. Digital payslips should be one of the first eco-friendly practices encouraged by HR.
Introduce a recycling scheme
Have you ever thought about introducing a recycling policy? Education is one of the most important things when people are learning about the benefits of recycling – for both the environment and business. Remove individual desk bins to reduce recycling getting thrown into general waste and look to offer recycling rewards. You can set weekly or monthly challenges to see who can recycle the most and incentivise it with a little prize such as lunch or an afternoon off.
Encourage an ‘essential printing only’ policy
Some offices need a printer and it can be very difficult to go completely paperless, but there are ways printing can be reduced such as encouraging an ‘essential printing only’ policy. Printing unnecessary documents and emails can be scrapped and giving handouts during a presentation can be a simple email to those who attended. Making small changes to reduce printing and limit it to only the essentials - such as important hard copies of documents - can make a positive impact on the environment.
Provide the office with a monochrome printer
Whether you choose an inkjet printer or a laser printer, you’re going to need cartridges. If one ink cartridge ends up in landfill it can take 1,000 years to decompose, which is why you need to recycle them. There are ways you can reduce the chance of more cartridges going to landfill and that is to invest in a monochrome printer. This eliminates the need for coloured (CMY) cartridges, halving what you will need to recycle. Not only does this benefit the environment, but also a business. You can save quite a bit of money with a monochrome printer; as an example, black HP Envy ink is cheaper than coloured.
Encourage a carpooling initiative
Promoting carpooling among employees can be beneficial to not only the environment but also staff (it means saving money by splitting vehicle use meaning less wear and tear and lower fuel costs). You can encourage staff to take up carpooling by offering them a guaranteed car parking space - a great incentive is parking is a challenge.
Sustainable benefits
Businesses can also add benefits which can encourage more environmentally-friendly choices. Cycle to work scheme is a great benefit. This benefit offers employers and employees many benefits:
- Environmentally friendly
- Save money
- Increase productivity thanks to the healthier staff
- Reduces congestion
- Reduces stress.