Working

If every UK office worker used one less staple a day we would save 120 tonnes of steel.

Steel is not the only thing we are wasting at work. Waste typically costs companies 4.5% of their turnover. Find out what you could do to waste less at work.

Curb your consumption

• Change your computer to an energy-saving setting.
• Turn it off when you’re not using it.
• Plug hardware into a power strip with an on/off switch
• If there’s no one in the room, turn off the lights.

Pack a zero waste lunch

Not only is it good for your wallet and your waistline, it helps to cut down on the mountain of food packaging we produce every year. Not sure where to start?  Read our guide to zero waste lunches in our Eating and Drinking section.

Go digital

The more you do online, the less paper you waste.

• Store files online, making them accessible outside the office too. 
• Only print if you really need to. Review documents onscreen and share your documents as PDFs.
• Synch your mobile and computer to carry information digitally.

Read our blog post Top 5 digital tools to help you waste less.

Reuse

• Reuse your envelopes for not so important mail.
• If paper has only been used on one side, use the other side to print out drafts or internal documents.
• See if you can arrange a deal with your suppliers to reduce or reuse packaging. Make sure any unavoidable packaging is recyclable whenever possible.

Recycle

Learn how to set up an office recycling scheme and find out what we are doing at our offices to waste less.

In this section