Pictured above: Martin Harris, Fenns Sales Director
Green Office Week which takes place across the UK from 26-30
April is being supported by local office supplies firm Fenns, who
have lots of special green initiatives taking place during the
week, from offering help to local businesses implement an
environmental policy through to offering discounts on a variety of
Green Office Products in a bid to inspire local businesses to make
changes and promote green behaviour in offices throughout the West
Midlands.
A research poll by YouGov has revealed that 92% of office
workers believe that it is important for businesses to be
environmentally responsible but only 51% say their companies have a
green policy in place and only 54% of employees think their company
does enough towards helping the environment. Furthermore, research
has also shown a massive 82% of office workers are more
environmentally friendly at home than in the office and one third
of offices do not have any recycling facilities.
Fenns are one local company who have had a robust environmental
policy in place for over 10 years and Fenns Sales Director, Martin
Harris, hopes that the 'Green Office Week' initiative will raise
awareness about what more can be done by business to help the
environment. He says: "These national statistics are concerning and
we hope that an initiative like Green Office Week will jump start
more businesses into making a change. We spend a lot of time at
work so it is important that we do something, even if it is only
small.
Although some local organisations like ourselves are already
making clear statements about their green products or services and
are to be commended for this, it does not mean that the culture of
going green in workplaces is commonplace; this is why Green Office
Week is so important in driving the message home to everyone.
Businesses can put an environmental policy in place quite
easily and quickly and we have worked with many local companies on
implementing this. Just a few simple ideas make a difference - Try
an office audit, take a walk around the office and think about
ECO-friendly, green office products, think about recycling old IT
and electrical equipment, choose recyclable products and paper and
wood products that are FSC-certified, to guarantee that they come
from sustainable sources, switch off electrical items and don't
leave them on standby. Offices could even incentivise staff to come
up with ideas and reward them for the best idea.
We hope Green Office Week will be a success across the local
business community and we urge people to ask themselves the
following: Do you consciously make an effort to be green at work?
Do you think your employer could do more to encourage green
changes, or do you think as an employee you need to do more to
spread the message? Think about these questions then act on your
answers. You will be surprised what a difference you can make."