Conscious Consultant: How to make WFH more sustainable

by Maria Martinez

As consultants, our greatest contribution to the environment over the past 14 months has been not traveling on a weekly basis to our client’s sites. However, as we nestled into our work-from-home lives, you may have noticed rising energy bills, constant bags of trash and perpetual running of the dishwasher. As our habits continue to shift here are some tips to incorporate sustainability into our new way of working.

Follow the sunshine:

With the sunny summer days approaching, finding a naturally lit workspace will allow you to take advantage of natural light throughout the workday. This will minimize you having to reach for the light switch mid-day. If you do need more light, try to use task lighting to illuminate a smaller area, like a desk lamp, rather than broad overhead lighting, which will use more energy. If some electricity bill savings is not enough reason to work by the window, natural light also provides some health benefits such as boosting in vitamin D, improves sleep and fights seasonal depression.[1]

Get some fresh air:

Similarly, with the warm days approaching, it is easy to reach for the thermostat and drop it down a few degrees. While on somedays, that is absolutely a must, for other days you should first consider using your windows to regulate the temperature with some fresh air.

Buy in bulk:

With our always-on-the-go lifestyles prior to the pandemic, individually packaged snacks were super convenient to travel with us. However, now that we work a few steps away from our kitchens (for better, or worse!), you can opt for buying foods in bulk to minimize single-use packaging materials. In the US, 63% out of 258-millions of tons of urban waste generated came from packaging materials (for food and other purposes). Only 35% was then composted or recycled.[2] This tip can not only be applied to chips and cookies, but also, for beverages. Rather than running through multiple cans of soda or sparkling water a day, buy the family size!

Meal prepping & cooking at home

While some of us have taken advantage of being in our home kitchens to up-our cooking skills, there are a few things we can continue to consider making our cooking at home more sustainable. The first tip is meal prepping. It might seem counter-intuitive when working from home but making meals in batches one or twice a week minimizes your gas or electricity usage in the kitchen. In addition, make sure you store your meals in sustainable Tupperware options such as re-usable glass containers. With only microwave re-heating required, meal prepping can also reduce running the dishwasher after every meal.

A light bulb moment:

On some days, it may feel as though you have not moved from your workspace all day. While a walk outside or a lunch break is always encouraged, a silver lining of staying within a confined space is the ability to minimize your energy usage throughout the rest of your home. As you nestle into your workspace, make sure that lights throughout the rest of areas in your home where no one is utilizing are turned off.

[1] https://www.healthline.com/health/natural-light-benefits

[2] https://foodprint.org/issues/the-environmental-impact-of-food-packaging/