The Time Podcast talks about how businesses are going Green and why? Most of the information is not new for somebody following the Green trends for the past year or so however, it is worth noting that information like this is going to the general public as it is covered in Time. The sustainability dialogue is growing!
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Listen to the Podcast above from 09:51 till 18:55 for this news item.
Guardian writes about an interesting survey of worker’s green habits and how they differ at home and work.
Research among more than 1,000 employees found the workplace behaviour of many sat in sharp contrast to their environmental efforts at home.
While 94% said they switched off domestic lights whenever they weren’t using them and 85% said they switched off their home computer after use, only 66% turned off lights in the workplace and only 53% shut down their computer at the end of the day.
Why do people do that?
A third of those questioned said speed and efficiency came ahead of environmental issues at work, and 57% said they were looking to their bosses to lead by example.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of workers said employers should offer some kind of incentive or reward to those who did make efforts to save resources.
It’s interesting that at home these same people lead by example and act like the boss however, at work they need to be provided incentives. What makes the same people behave differently at two different places?
My work as an Environmental Project Officer revolves around helping the organization to cut down its environmental impact. Discussing with my boss about the issue of people’s behaviour at work and its difference with their home behaviour he provided a theory of his own.
He believes that people behave like children when at work and need to be guided, instructed, rule based etc for them to behave the way the organization wants them to.
Even if this is true, in the case of green habits this is strange as the employees need to do the exact same things that they do at home. The best explanation I could think of was – incentives matter.
At home there is the incentive of saving money on electricity bills, council fines if recycling is not followed, and a general propensity to manage their own resources and assets.
At work, these same resources are not owned by the employee but by the corporation and for some reason, the boss represents the corporation and needs to provide incentives, lead by example or promote green living to make a difference.
At the end lower costs to the organization is better for the employees, saving energy and the environment at work or at home is good for all, recycling stuff is helping in a small way. Whether at home or work, we need to follow the same green habits to live a green life.
Technorati Tags: green, habits, incentives, environment
All I’ve been thinking about all week is garbage. I can’t stop thinking about it.
What kind of thoughts about garbage?
I just… I’ve gotten real concerned overwhat’s gonna happen with all the garbage.
I mean, we’ve got so much of it.
You know? I mean, we have to run out of places to put this stuff eventually.
The last time… I started feelin’ this wayis when that barge was stranded and, you know, it was goin’ aroundthe island and nobody would claim it.
- Do you remember that?-
Yes, I remember.
Do you have any idea what may have triggered this concern?
Yeah. Yeah.
You see, the other night John was taking out the garbage, and he kept spilling things out of the container, and that made me…
I started imagining, like, a garbage can that produces garbage. And it doesn’t stop, it keeps producing garbage. And it keeps overflowing. And, you know, what would you do to try to stop something like that?
By: Andie MacDowell
