Employees take green habits to work

Environmentally conscious employees are helping companies keep carbon emissions, and costs, down by keeping in mind energy expenditure as they would in their own homes.


A workplace survey carried out on behalf of power company E.on found that a modest but significant one in six people always consider their energy habits while at work and have tried to persuade colleagues to do the same.

Almost half (48%) of 650 respondents said they turned lights off when they left an unoccupied area while 58% said they shut down their computer completely at the end of the day, including the monitor, thereby saving energy that would have been wasted by leaving it on standby.

E.on believes that the results reflect a growing awareness of environmental issues and people’s good habits in the home, where almost three quarters of those surveyed are taking measures to keep down their energy use – and the bills that come with it.

Samantha Baylis, director of E.on’s B2B business, said: “It’s hugely encouraging that people seem to be bringing more of their green habits to work with them.

“Most people probably feel there’s not a lot they can do about saving energy at work but I think they’d be surprised. Every time you overfill the office kettle to make a drink, turn up the air conditioning or leave your computer running needlessly, you’re having an impact on your company’s bottom line.

“Our ‘turning down and turning off’ message is one of the simplest ways to reduce energy consumption and bills – whether at work or at home – and companies can reduce their energy bills by as much as 10% through low-cost and no-cost energy efficiency measures.”

“But, with around half of us still not giving energy saving too much thought, there’s clearly still some way to go.”

E.on-owned Powergen runs a Business Energy Helpline to provide its customers with free advice on how to reduce energy consumption in the workplace.

The number is 08000 858525.

Sam Bond

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