For so long, businesses were primarily interested in boosting their profits and achieving outstanding results. Although economic performance still matters to ensure a company’s long-term growth, CSR has become a noble mission these days and is more than necessary to stay competitive in today’s business landscape. A great sustainable initiative that businesses can implement is promoting eco-friendly commuting in the office, which has benefits beyond CSR, such as increasing the health and happiness of employees and reducing the likelihood of health conditions like obesity, ultimately resulting in a more engaged workforce. Feeling inspired to improve your CSR and make your commute greener? If so, keep reading as we dive into the best practices to get you started with your sustainable initiatives.
Highlight the benefits of switching to sustainable commuting
Awareness is always the first and easiest step towards implementing change, so begin by educating your team on the benefits of sustainable commuting. Host seminars and workshops to discuss current environmental issues and how commuting by car causes harmful emissions to the planet. Also, remind employees that they have the power to make a difference, encourage them to take responsibility for their own impact on the planet, and be a role model to them by reducing car usage yourself.
But don’t just limit yourself to the benefits of sustainable commuting for the planet- highlight the fact that it can also impact their health, as it allows them to have a more active lifestyle and stay fit. To this end, you can encourage employees to ride a bike instead of driving their cars to work as cycling is well-known for its tremendous health benefits, improving heart health and muscle strength and helping with weight management.
Tackle barriers to active transport
While not all employees can walk to work, biking is always a great option – especially with e-bikes requiring considerably less pedaling and taking you further than a usual bike. In fact, it’s now possible to use an electric mountain bike when going trekking and touring, ensuring a top-notch experience when tackling mountainous terrain. However, although biking is an excellent way to commute to the office, it’s worth noting that there’s a barrier to it: the available workplace infrastructure. This is true for any people-powered movement, whether it’s walking or jogging, so it’s essential to address it and offer access to lockers, showers, and protected bike rooms that enable bikers, walkers and runners to transition more seamlessly to their workday.
Let’s be honest: no one wants to worry about where they will park their bike or find a clean place to prepare themselves for work, so it’s wise to address these issues and ensure active transport is seamless at your facility.
Offer discounted car-share or bike-share memberships
For some companies, it can be challenging to encourage active transport, particularly when the facility is situated far away from public transport. In this situation, an effective solution would be to sponsor discounted memberships to organizations that have a bike-sharing system in place. Furthermore, discounted car-share memberships can also promote the use of eco-friendly transport, though this might seem counterintuitive at first.
However, some employees may need access to an automobile for midday trips, like a doctor’s appointment or visiting their child’s school. This is why car-share programs would be helpful – while employees can still take public transport or ride their bike to the office, they will have peace of mind knowing that an automobile will also be handy in case of an emergency.
Encourage carpooling
Carpooling has become increasingly widespread within companies, as it is a practice that enables employees to share a ride in the same vehicle to get to the headquarters of a company or a customer-supplier meeting. You can encourage carpooling by making internal communication easier through platforms like Slack or WhatsApp so that employees who are open to this idea can connect with each other.
Carpooling isn’t just great for reducing individual carbon emissions, but it can also be fun for employees – after all, hanging out with the workplace colleagues first thing in the morning can give you that daily dose of enthusiasm and optimism you need throughout the day!
Disincentivize driving
A strong barrier to sustainable commuting is that parking a car at the office is often more cost-effective. Thus, it’s essential to tackle this aspect if you want your team to not rely as much on their cars. To do this, consider reducing park subsidies (or eliminating them altogether), reducing the number of parking spaces, or boosting parking fees. This way, they won’t be as tempted to use their cars anymore and will likely be more open to carpooling or public transportation options.
If you’re worried about looking dogmatic, here’s a suggestion you may want to consider: use the revenue from enhanced parking fees to subsidize public transport, fund cycling facilities, or fund any other sustainable initiatives. A great idea would be to have e-bikes readily available for employees so that they won’t have to invest in their own. This will help showcase your commitment to sustainability and promote employee wellbeing, so consider checking a marketplace like Upway to get the best options at a reasonable price.
Consider remote working
Did you know that one remote worker can eliminate up to 14.7 pounds of atmospheric carbon dioxide? This dramatically affects the amount of air pollution, helping substantially increase air quality. But the advantages of remote working for the planet go far beyond the reduced air pollution. For instance, it’s well-known that offices consume a significant amount of energy due to heating, lighting and cooling systems running the entire day. The good news is that switching from office buildings to homes enables energy conservation and efficiency. Since homes are smaller than office buildings, and they are often equipped with LED lighting, thermostats, and efficient appliances, they are better for sustainability.
Besides, remote working is good for employees’ mental health and productivity! So why not give them this tremendous advantage, which will also benefit your business in the long run?
The bottom line
Carbon levels are now at their highest, so businesses are responsible for acting and cutting their carbon emissions. One opportunity is to rethink workers’ commuting to the office through the strategies discussed above in the article. This will help you make a meaningful contribution in the quest for sustainability while setting your business up for long-term success.