Top 5 reasons green workplaces make their employees happy at work
More and more companies are starting to care for the environment, and this is one area to which we can all contribute. Can you get your company to recycle paper? To use less electricity or water? To save on fuel or other resources? To start buying more environmentally friendly products? Make yourself heard, start a campaign, enlist support. Go green!
What’s really cool is that companies are learning that being environmentally friendly actually makes them MORE money. Interface, the world’s largest manufacturer of carpets, designed and manufactured a new kind of carpet that was environmentally friendly, and while the design and production of this new product was more expensive than their regular line, it instantly became a bestseller and has made the company a fortune.
Ray Anderson, the CEO of Interface, had a rude awakening about the way his company had been polluting, saying:
It dawned on me that they way I’d been running Interface is the way of the plunderer. Plundering something that is not mine, something that belongs to every creature on earth.
So I said to myself “My goodness, some day people like me will end up in jail.”
Another great example is Patagonia who make outdoor wear and mountain climbing gear, donate 1% of their revenue or 10% of their profits, whichever is greater, to environmental causes chosen by their employees.
But aside from financial gains, I believe that being environmentally focused has one other huge benefit for companies today: It makes employees happy. Here are five reasons why.
5: It gives us a sense of pride
Knowing that your work made a group of already wealthy investors a little richer may not be a huge source of personal pride, but knowing that your work made the world a little cleaner, or the environment a little safer or helped reduce C02 emissions can be.
Working for a company that has not only a positive bottom line but also a positive impact on the world feels good and makes us happy at work.
4: It creates a stronger bond with the company
Having that sense of pride means we can more easily identify with the company and feel like we belong there. This also contributes to happiness at work.
3: Employees can take action
Corporate environmental initiatives always work best when employees can involve themselves directly. Patagonia for instance, lets employees take time off work to work on environmental projects, and taking action for something you believe in, makes you happy.
2: We make a positive difference
It also lets us make a difference. If employees can get involved where they are and contribute to the environment through their ideas, energy, knowledge, skills or passion, they can contribute actively to a worthy cause.
1: It’s the right thing to do
It is just not right for companies to consume more natural resources than strictly necessary. It is not right to pollute, when there are other non-toxic ways to produce. Working for an organization that gets this, and chooses to do the right thing, rather than the easy thing, makes us happy at work.
So companies that take the environment seriously can not only make more money, they can also make their employees happy at work and reap all the benefits that happy workplaces experience, like increased innovation, better customer service and higher profits!
So try it out in your workplace: What could YOU do for the environment?
This post is part of the Blog Action Day
Blog Action Day: Leave That Which Makes You Doubt... » MonkAtWork.com Said,
October 15, 2007 @ 6:35 pm
[...] since our relationship with our beautiful, blue planet weaves throughout everything we do, work-related or not, let’s give a little extra love to our Mother this week, and see if we can help make a [...]
Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk Said,
October 15, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
One of the best things we can do for the environment is to fly as little as possible. To do that we have to be more creative in having conferences and interacting for business.
Kristina Richardson Said,
October 16, 2007 @ 12:01 am
Everyone can make a difference! If you are passionate about stopping global warming and the environment you should check out this website http://www.nvisioncfl.com . Changing to CFLs is a great way for individual people to really make a difference! You should also check out this site http://www.youtube.com/user/helpourworld for more ideas on how to help our world!
Who and What They Said on Blog Action Day | Blog Gigs Said,
October 16, 2007 @ 4:37 am
[...] Chief Happiness Officer – What’s really cool is that companies are learning that being environmentally friendly actually makes them MORE money. [...]
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October 16, 2007 @ 1:34 pm
[...] Freedom #22 | N.C @ FreelanceSwitch 5 Innovative environmental business ideas | Travis @ YGG Top 5 reasons green workplaces make their employees happy at work | Alex @ The Chief Happiness Officer Human Ideas Adopt the Sky | Behance The Butterfly Effect and [...]
Eric Monse Said,
October 16, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
Mad props to those donating revenue. Got to pickup some Patagonia gear.
Blog Action Day Revisited - lifehack.org Said,
October 19, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
[...] you think your job can’t be friendly to our environment, then check out Top 5 reasons green workplaces make their employees happy at work by the Chief Happiness Officer Alex [...]
Jarkko Laine - Insanely interested » Blog Archive » Insanely Interesting Links: Blog Action Day Said,
October 20, 2007 @ 11:01 am
[...] Top 5 reasons green workplaces make their employees happy at work from Chief Happiness Officer: “[…] companies that take the environment seriously can not only make more money, they can also make their employees happy at work and reap all the benefits that happy workplaces experience, like increased innovation, better customer service and higher profits!” [...]
303 Insanely Interesting Links From 2007 -- Jarkko Laine - Insanely interested Said,
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Sarah Said,
April 22, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
At GreenCupboards we wholeheartedly believe in standing behind sustainable, earth friendly practices that work together to create a better world. Here are several things that we do, in our office, to work green…
1. We recycle (paper, glass, newspaper, cardboard, aluminum, and plastic)
2. We compost organic matter and use it in our own personal gardens
3. We use less energy by operating in a modest-sized office
4. We power all of our computers using solar energy
5. We provide jobs to local students
6. We offer case options so customers can reduce their carbon footprint
7. We support local businesses and small businesses as well
8. We perform the majority of our operations online–thereby reducing energy intensive operations
9. We banned water bottles—using glasses and a water pitcher instead :)
10. We provide eco friendly, sustainable products at reasonable prices
11. We ask our team members to works on their own laptops, reducing the need for multiple home/work computers
12. We donate 1% of pre-tax profits to non-profit organizations that promote a cleaner, self-sustaining, environment
Sarah Said,
April 22, 2009 @ 11:47 pm
I forgot to leave a link for viewing!