In today’s world, it is more important than ever for businesses to be sustainable and make conscious choices to reduce their environmental impact. Here at OPS, we take sustainability very seriously, and thought we would use this blog to share our initiatives and how you can implement these into your organisation.
Swap Shop
Swap shops have been in use for a long time and are a great way to reduce waste by saving items that would otherwise be discarded. At OPS we are starting a project to implement our own online swap shop where employees can advertise items they no longer have use for and give them a new home! With charity shops receiving a huge intake of clothing it saves wastage and is a great money saver – something we all need during the cost of living crisis.
If this is something your workplace have the capacity to take on it can be very useful and will extend the lifespan of your items resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage.
Go Digital! – Reduce Paper Copies
While many organisations are moving to digital platforms and away from paper copies for documentation, certain industries, such as education face challenges in this regard. If you are one of those industries struggling to cut down on paper usage, switching to recycled paper can make a huge difference!
Here at OPS, we have moved away from sending hard copies of our CofA’s / CofC’s with our deliveries and began asking customers to download these electronically from our website. But we still use paper copies for other documents that we are unable to make digital, therefore we use eco-friendly paper. Did you know that each tonne of recycled paper saves 380 gallons of oil, 7000 gallons of water, and around 3 cubic metres of landfill space (Recycling Bins, 2023).
Lighting
To ensure lighting is eco-friendly, it is very important to switch to LED lights which offer the most energy efficiency. At OPS alongside LED lighting, we also use ensure lights are switched off when rooms are not in use and have implemented LED motion sensors which have lowered electricity usage by 30%.
Product Packaging
If you provide products to your customers, then it’s important to consider whether the packaging is environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, a lot of packaging is designed to be single use and is typically thrown away after it served its purpose.
At OPS we send products daily so have ensured we recycle our boxes and reuse the bubble wrap that comes with our orders. We also use biodegradable packaging chips which can be dissolved in the sink and won’t harm water or aquatic life. We have switched to using recyclable paper packaging which has reduced the use of our regular sized bubble bags.
It’s important to review what you’re using and consider what eco-friendly alternatives are available.
Hybrid & Home Working – ONS
While this is not an option for all workplaces, most office base roles have moved to hybrid working since the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, more than 8 in 10 employees said they planned to hybrid work going forward (ONS, 2023). And this has not only helped with job satisfaction, but it has also reduced petrol usage helping our carbon footprint. At OPS we have noticed 536 miles of staff travel saved per week due to hybrid working.
Please see below both the direct and indirect impact hybrid working has on your organisation.
• Direct impact – Less lighting, water, heating, and air conditioning is used.
• Indirect impact – Less petrol usage and reduced air pollution.
Short Dated Stock
Here at OPS, we have expiration dates on all of our products so at some point there inevitably will be wastage. To help reduce this we allow our customers to negotiate a price for the short-dated products that will go to waste if not used. This helps to reduce medicine wastage in the NHS.
Negotiation and price reductions on products nearing their expiration dates can be very useful. It is also important to buy less but as needed.
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