Celebrating Earth Day — Even during a Pandemic

Apr 22

This Earth Day may be the most important one yet for your company.

The reason? When everyone’s work changed with the pandemic and most were assigned WFH roles we saw a drastic reduction in pollution and an increase in eco-friendly habits in homes. This was a major win for the environment, one that Clement Consulting more than celebrated, truly rejoiced in.

Now that we are entering a “new normal” where some offices are returning to work and while others are implementing a hybrid model let’s all make this Earth Day one that sets the tone for a better planet moving forward.

Here are a few tips to make this Earth Day engaging and transformational and instill lasting habits with your employees, even if life looks a bit different right now:

Educate your people

This is the perfect time to develop quick tutorials, training and virtual events around easy sustainability practices. It could be something as simple as educating employees about how to properly sort and recycle materials common in neighborhood recycling programs.

I bet you will find your employees will welcome a break from thinking about calendars and tasks to hear ways they can incorporate the values of Earth Day every day. But remember, these virtual events should be fun and light-hearted and useful.

Find ways to reuse

Nobody really wants another water bottle or reusable shopping bag. However, you can encourage employees to adopt reusables into their lifestyles such as reusable notebooks that allow the user to transform their notes into a PDF and erase the page once it is full. Potentially a heavier price tag? Sure, but an investment in your workforce that also inspires thought in other aspects of their lives. Totally, worth it if you ask me!

Another idea? Consider investing in contactless recycling at your office, so employees can drop off even hard-to-recycle items such as batteries.

Get outside

Consider encouraging employees to get out and enjoy nature. This could be easily encouraged by an internal contest where everyone competes to see who can pick up the most litter or most pollinator friendly plants planted in their yard.

Have you thought about replacing that chain restaurant gift card with gift cards to a local nursery? I think this is a fantastic way to not only reward your employees but also encourage them to get outside!

Ultimately, if you as the business owner is still hesitant about making a concerted effort to become greener, real change isn’t likely to occur. Change has to begin at the top.

Woman outside on bridge looking over changing trees and river

  
    Incorporating environmental sustainability projects makes sense from every angle, from cost to risk mitigation to reducing turnover and increasing loyalty.

Here at Clement Consulting we want clean air. To see the mountains not covered in smog. We want insects and cooler temperatures and healthier food. This is why environmental sustainability and inspiring a love for the natural world is a core part of our business, that we are damn proud of!