Make your home office Eco-Friendly

For thousands of us, working from home is a staple of our lives, and while many of us make do with working from ours beds or kitchen table, some have a proper home office. But if you do, how environmentally friendly is it? When you’re at home, it’s easier to make changes as you’re the boss of the space. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

One of the easiest ways to be energy efficient when working from home is to switch to a green energy supplier. Other things to consider are LED or energy-saving light bulbs in the room, and thick curtains over the window for extra insulation – come evening when you close them they can help trap the warmth inside better.

Laptops, computer monitors, printers, and any other electronic devices will all have options to switch to an energy-saving mode so make sure to put them on hibernate when you’re not using them.

According to scientists, working near a sunlit window will give you a higher production rate, and reduce the chance of eyestrain or headaches. In contrast to artificial indoor light, sunlight will also give you Vitamin D and tends to make people feel more energetic. But even more importantly, in a well-lit room, you will be using less electricity on artificial light by being able to turn on the lights later in the day.

If you have loads of paper documents around, try to switch to digital versions as much as possible – not only is this more environmentally friendly due to less paper use but it’ll help you with your organisation too. If you need a way to jot down ideas of notes, perhaps a tablet or a whiteboard would be something useful to invest in, rather than having post-it notes everywhere.

Choose furniture and room accessories that are made from sustainable materials such as ethically sourced wood – perhaps bamboo, or materials such as rattan or seagrass. In addition to adding a unique style to your home office, they are also durable and support positive, environmental practices.

From paper to paper clips, shop around for sustainable or responsibly-sourced stationery for your home office. This includes ink cartridges if you are using a printer.

From throwing away food waste into the compost or ditching the coffee pods, there are plenty of areas where you can reduce, or eliminate entirely the waste created from working at home. Similarly, spend a little more time making healthy food rather than buying ready-made snacks.

If you need to buy something for your home office make sure they are sustainably sourced, or try and look out for second-hand items that will suit both your style and its function. If you can repurpose household items, for example, for storage options, you will reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.

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