If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’re already living a climate-friendly lifestyle. Perhaps you get your daily coffee in a reusable cup, eat no or limited amounts of meat, use public transport, ride a bike, or have solar panels on your house. There are so many accessible ways we can actively mitigate our individual actions to help the climate crisis.
But often extending that same mindset to our place of work doesn’t happen. Why? Well, for one, the current economic system is designed to prioritise productivity above all else. This means we often separate our “personal” selves from the work we do. Which, given we spend a third our lives at work, just doesn’t make sense.
A way to help bridge that gap is to consider ways in which you can extend the highest climate impact actions you take in your personal life into the workplace. Making this first step from home to work – no matter how small it feels – can open up the door to have bigger conversations around what climate action your company could be taking.
1. Turn a plant-based diet into vegetarian options in the canteen
Agriculture accounts for approximately 18% of Australia's total climate pollution – more than half of which comes from beef and sheep products. This is why Climate Action Australia has “plant-based diet” at the top of their list of highest impact personal actions. If this is a choice you’ve made in your own life already (or if you make a conscious choice to limit meat intake), perhaps extend this by suggesting your work adopts majority plant-based options for catering or in the canteen, practises a Meat Free Monday, or signs-up for a Meat Free Week cancer fundraiser.
2. Turn your ride to work into “don’t drive to work day”
Australian passenger vehicles produce more emissions per kilometre than any other comparable market in the world. And while this may improve now that the government has finally introduced fuel standards, cutting reliance on fossil-fuel cars is one of the biggest steps to a better climate. If you already ride your bike or catch public transport to work, you could introduce it to colleagues by suggesting a “no car Friday” for the company. Or even start by simply organising an event around an existing project like National Ride to Work Day.
While seemingly small, an action like this could provide the opportunity to start conversations around the benefits of fleet electrification and corporate emissions reductions.
3. Turn your ethical finances into ethical super for the workplace
Already moved your own finances to an ethical bank or superannuation? You can encourage your company to switch its default superannuation fund and investments to ethical institutions as well. This is a really big deal, because while in Australia we have the right to choose our own super funds, at the moment approximately 40% of employees don’t. That’s why we’ve written a whole playbook on how to help your boss make the switch.
4. Turn your compost bin into a food waste program at work
Did you know that Australia wastes 7.6 million tonnes of food a year (70% of which is edible!). This has a huge impact on our climate, not least because of the methane created by rotting food waste in landfill. If you already compost at home, you can suggest your company sign a food pact or find an established food recycling system for all workplace compost.
When it comes to tackling the climate crisis, we need change at all levels. We have to create the movements that usher in a new normal and we can do this by changing how we engage, and growing our individual actions and choices into collective ones.
Want to learn some more practical and actionable tips to becoming a climate leader in the workplace? Join our FREE interactive, 1.5-hour workshop to learn how to become a climate leader at your job and find your community.
