Sustainablity At Home

This article provides some steps that companies and creative agencies alike can implement to reduce their day-to-day emissions as individuals when working from home, outside of the digital world.

Like many companies in the post-pandemic world, Wonderland’s team works through a hybrid office model - our employees have the freedom to use the office and work from home as they please. The most obvious benefit for the environment to working from home includes the all-important commuting emissions becoming null and void; however, as a business with an office and employees based in the Netherlands 92% of our employees (equivalent to all but 1) travel to the office via bike or foot so using this as a benefit is all too easy for us when it wasn’t present in the first place. So if you’re a company, like ours, and looking for some easy to challenging steps to become more conscious when working from home check out the list below.

Energy Conservation

A no-brainer! We won’t repeat the reasons for conserving energy but we will provide you with some easy and most likely reminders of how to be more conscious of your energy usage at home. This include: 

• Turning off your devices when not in use,

• Using energy-efficient devices,

• Switching to renewable energy sources, we use powerpeers for our office. 

• Adjusting your heating/cooling to avoid excess energy consumption.

Buying locally sourced products

Becoming sustainable goes further than the screen, buying locally sourced products reduces the carbon footprint associated with transportation and lower greenhouse gas emissions as well as supporting local businesses and farmers. Our team's go-to for achieving this is to shop at the local markets - a mindful team outing whilst also supporting local sellers. Just make sure to check the labels

Reducing paper usage

It saves trees and increases convenience! Paper production requires a significant amount of water and energy, and reduces the number of greenhouse gases not to mention that the more paper we use, the more waste we generate (although, see point 6, if you use paper do us a favour and recycle it). Here are some ways you can cut down on paper consumption: 

•  Using paperless billing and banking,

• Using cross-team note-taking programs,

• Digital and IRL first communication,

• If you must print, do it double-sided and reduce font size to use less paper,

• Signing documents online,

• Using online calendars and to-do lists,

• Using recycled and reusable paper,

• Reducing junk mail - we’re looking at your award submissions!

Minimising transportation.

To reduce the carbon footprint from using oil-fueled machines such as cars and planes and also from clogging up our beautiful city with congestion we encourage our team to…

• Bike to work,

• Walk to work,

• Telecommute.

Recycling

Our dear friend recycling with endless benefits such as conserving natural resources, reducing waste, saving energy and even creating jobs. There are different way of how you adopt recycling such as:

• Local schemes

• Composting

• Recycle the core materials → paper, plastic, glass, metal

• Upcycle

• Donate

• Use reusable items

• Buy recycled products.

Carbon offsetting

As you may know, carbon offsetting is the process of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in one area to balance out or compensate for the emissions produced in another area. This helps to reduce the overall carbon footprint of an individual, organisation, or activity. As a business carbon offsetting is an important tool to account for our corporate social responsibility and for mitigating the impact of unavoidable emissions. After calculating your carbon footprint purchase carbon credits from verified carbon offset providers, our favourite is the goldstandard market place. For travelling and those all-important holidays use goodwings who reinvest their profits to reduce your travel emissions.

Volunteering & becoming part of local communities

It is part of our commitment as a sustainability-driven company to promote the social well-being of our communities. Volunteering allows us to contribute to the betterment of our community and push the most vulnerable people forwards. It helps teams build connections, expand their worldview, and become proactive and involved. 

Walking meetings

Walking meetings only involve human energy usage which means no fuel consumption, hence no greenhouse gas emissions. Using the good old human energy through walking meetings promotes physical activity and reduces the need for indoor spaces with climate control, which can also contribute to environmental impact. By incorporating walking meetings into the work culture, individuals can reduce their carbon footprint and promote a more healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

Conscious eating

Unfortunately, food production has quite a negative impact on the environment through; land use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation and food waste.

• Eating a plant-based diet,

• Meal planning to reduce food waste.

Working from home provides an opportunity to adopt sustainable practices, and it's important to consider the environmental impact of our actions. By following these tips, we can reduce our carbon footprint, save energy, and conserve resources while working from home. Remember, small changes can make a big difference, and we all have a role to play in creating a more sustainable future.