Workplaces

Your workplace and climate change

Many people see the connection between their health and air quality; however, few people have made the link between reducing greenhouse gases and their health through actions. These actions include practising energy efficiency (turning off lights and equipment), the three R’s of conservation through green procurement policies and waste reduction initiatives, as well as reducing vehicle idling and use (no-idling, trip-reduction, work-at-home and bike use policies.) Some things you may need to consider to reduce your workplace’s greenhouse gas contributions include:

• Energy efficiency initiatives, such as turning off unused equipment and lights Installing timers Replacing less energy efficient light bulbs with CFL (compact fluorescent light bulbs) Where possible, installing faucet aerators for water use reduction Work policies (look at work-at-home days, bring-lunch-to-work days etc.) Idling policies (for employees’, delivery and service vehicles) Transportation policies (whether trips are necessary, doubling up on travelling etc.) Delivery policies (necessity or not, doubling up on deliveries) Purchasing policies (green products – recycled and unbleached) Sustainable transportation ideas (overcoming barriers involved in car pooling, biking, bussing and walking) Greener meeting ideas (no paper, plastic, or styrofoam cups, napkins, plates, or cutlery, etc.) Recycling and waste management (the 3 R’s reduce, reuse and recycle) Greening outside areas (trees are carbon sequesters) Use of office equipment (avoiding laser printers for draft quality printouts. From an energy efficiency perspective, the order of preference is ink-jet, dot matrix and laser)
• Using energy saving products (weather stripping for doors and windows, wrapping hot water pipes, etc.)

If you are interested in carrying out a workplace program to improve your air quality, energy efficiency and overall environment, please contact the Lung Association for more information.