To kick off a whole new decade, the Greenredeem team are looking back at the greener working success stories of the last ten years. We’re looking around at the big eco-developments happening right now, and looking ahead towards the next generation of sustainable change.
In a series of blog posts, we’re covering how we live, how we travel, how we eat and, here, how we work. Read on to see just how far we’ve come – and where we could be heading!
2010s: Brands got on board with greener working
Once upon a time, the only brands bragging about their green credentials would be those on the shelves of your local health food shop or hippy market stall. The 2010s saw sustainability steadily moving higher on every boardroom agenda – thank goodness – and it’s not hard to see why:
• Employees want to work for greener, socially responsible companies. People surveyed in one poll even said they’d take a pay cut to do so.
• Big businesses plan for the long-term. Why rely on dwindling fossil fuel resources to power your operations when you can invest in infinitely renewable energy sources, such as solar?
• Two-thirds of young consumers, given the choice, will go for a product that’s kinder to the planet. There’s big money in doing more sustainable business!
2010s: Our offices got a whole lot greener
It’s strange how long it took for everyone to realise that a greener, healthier working space is a happier, more productive working space. Influential studies from the last decade found that:
- Improving ventilation and air quality in workplaces increased productivity by 61%.
- Natural daylight boosted concentration skills by 15%.
- Adding living plants to an office space improved memory retention by 20%.
Did you get promoted during the 2010s? Don’t forget to thank the office cheese-plant!
2020s: An explosion in ebike commuting?
Imagine: taking on a ten-mile cycle ride and feeling sprightly afterwards. Wearing normal clothes on your bike commute with no fear of getting sweaty. Breathing easy as you tackle steep sections of road because it feels like someone strong is giving you a steady push from behind.
No need to imagine. If you go to your nearest ebike dealer, they’ll let you take a test ride.
As many as one-in-four British commuters could switch from cars to cycling over the next few years, research suggests. This recently became even more likely, when the Government clarified that electric bikes, or ebikes, are indeed covered by the tax-free Cycle to Work scheme.
We’re hoping these brilliantly efficient energy-savers soar in popularity over the next few years.
2020s: Remote working as standard?
Working from anywhere there’s WiFi will become commonplace in the 2020s. Organisations will ditch expensive centralised office spaces for entirely or partially remote workforces.
Cutting unnecessary commutes will lessen air pollution in big cities and allow employees to reclaim the time they’d have wasted sitting in traffic.
Untethered from the need to be near the office, many employees will choose to move to cheaper, less housing-pressured areas. They’ll renovate empty properties, put money into the local economy and contribute to their new communities.
2030s: Business districts go carbon neutral?
No two ways about it, in order to survive and thrive in this era of accelerating climate change, collectively we need to get to carbon neutral as soon as possible.
The Government has set a target of 2050 for the UK’s carbon neutrality, but at the current pace of green tech development we think this could be achieved far sooner.
By 2030, ten years into their plans, we’re crossing our fingers for the first entirely carbon neutral business districts, intensively planted with emissions-absorbing trees and urban crops, powered by renewable energy from underground banks of giant batteries.
Come on, Canary Wharf! What are you waiting for…?
What are your predictions for the future of greener work? Have you seen changes in your workplace over the last ten years? Share your thoughts with us on Facebook or Twitter.
