Sustainable business experts Envirowise are calling on employers to be more transparent about the impact that their workers are having so that they adopt the same approach to cost cutting at work as they do at home.
According to Envirowise research, people who are committed to cutting waste at home are lapsing into bad habits as soon as they get to work.
A survey of more than 1,800 U.K. office workers found that a third took no action to reduce the amount of resources they use during the working day.
"This research sends out a clear signal to UK businesses that good domestic environmental practices do not necessarily translate to the workplace," said Mary Leonard, Envirowise's marketing director.
"By ensuring gas, electricity, water and recycling bills are not cloaked in mystery, staff will have a greater understanding of how their actions can help reduce costs."
She added that the current financial climate should provide businesses with another incentive to cut their bills.
"With the credit crunch continuing to bite, cutting costs through better resource efficiency and minimising waste have never been more important," Ms Leonard said.
"Those businesses that make positive changes to reduce their environmental impact and reduce costs now will be better equipped to survive and thrive during the current downturn."
Envirowise recommended businesses should appoint "champions" to lead environmental incentives, urge employees to switch off lights and computers at the end of the day, and install water saving devices in toilets and kitchens.
It has also recently produced a guide to help businesses decide whether rainwater harvesting would be a suitable way to save resources in their workplace.
Not Green at Work but are Green At Home
Humm Interesting, its kind of like the analogy, that if you earn it or spend your own money you take better care of it. You notice this plays out even with kids.
I would think that after bill sharing, talk about the financial pressure, if bills keep rising and we dont reduce we might have to reduce. Better yet offer some incentives and positive rewards for conserving.
Show where there are actual things that can be done to reduce and save.
Has the business done all it can on its side of the fence first? Energy efficient lighting, the outlet auto offs for plug ins that are not in use or idle (stops current at the wall) toilets, sinks, paperless office?
How about moving to a 4 day work week (use energy one less day) Allow telecommuting for some staff, humm might actually be able to reduce the office size needed and still get work done.
Good for office and employees too.
@EcoLifeCoach