We’re well into 2019 now and a lot of us have been thinking about fresh starts and personal goals we hope to achieve during the year ahead. But what New Year’s resolution will you make for your business in 2019? We think one of the best things we can all do is make environmentally friendly and sustainable choices in our personal lives and at work. We also want to give a little more; spread a little joy and pay it forward. Here are some ideas to help you along the way with these New Year’s Resolutions in your office!
1. Be more environmentally friendly: Recycle your office rubbish!
How about reusing all those coffee grounds that get thrown away? There are a number of ways you can use them again:
• Use in the garden – Sprinkle on your flowerbeds to feed the plants. Azaleas and Hydrangeas like coffee grounds and it could also deter garden pests like slugs.
• Absorb odours – Placing used coffee grounds in your staff room fridge or freezer will absorb undesired food smells.
You could also introduce a cycle to work or car sharing incentive to help reduce emissions in addition to recycling more.
2. Make sustainable choices: Reduce the amount of plastic you use!
Plastic waste is big news right now and rightly so. It’s estimated that the UK generates five million tonnes of plastic waste every year1. You can do your bit to reduce the amount of plastic waste produced in your office by:
• Getting rid of plastic cutlery – Buy real cutlery that colleagues can wash up and use time and again. They also don’t need plastic drinks stirrers for their coffee breaks so switch to teaspoons or wooden drinks stirrers.
• Using crockery and/or KeepCups – Replace those disposable plastic vending machine cups or plastic-lined takeaway cups with crockery. Your colleagues are bound to prefer drinking from a proper cup. Or better yet, give all employees KeepCups so they can take their coffee with them when they are out on the road or in meetings. Here are some other benefits of KeepCups in the office.
• If you need to use takeaway cups, join the plants-not-plastic revolution and switch to the compostable kind.
3. Spread a little joy: Provide better coffee
We could all do with a bit of cheering up in January. After all the fun of Christmas and New Year, not to mention the constant pressure to get fit, eat healthily and become a ‘new you’, it’s easy to feel a bit deflated. One easy way to boost morale in your office is to give your colleagues a daily treat:
• Free tea and coffee is the top office perk – A quarter of all coffee is consumed in the workplace so it’s no surprise why this would be such a bonus to staff.
• Coffee produces the happy hormone! – Coffee releases Dopamine2 which improves our mood, so you would be scientifically spreading joy to your team!
• Regular coffee breaks can improve productivity and networking – Not only does providing great coffee at work contribute to a happier workforce, but it can also benefit the business too. As caffeine makes us feel alert, energised and increases our concentration span, it could improve the performance of employees.
If you can manage all three of these, you will be well on your way to becoming an awesome office!
To discuss coffee and hot drink solutions for your office, or find out about our free trial for workplaces, please get in touch!
References
1. http://plasticfree.co.uk/plastic-stats/
2. https://www.livestrong.com/article/454154-does-caffeine-affect-dopamine-levels/
Tagged with: coffee • environment • office • sustainable
