Eco-conscious in simple terms means being aware of your ecological surroundings and having all our sense organs on the nature around you. This is what it would mean for a layman or to a kid if we ever want to make them understand the meaning of the term. But broadly speaking, eco-conscious synonymously called eco awakening means having a concern for the environment according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Now, moving on to our topic of eco-conscious work habits. A question arises how can we as general populous make a difference, have concern, and be aware of our surroundings?
To answer this question, let’s take a conventional example – Suppose Tina, a woman who commutes to her office daily and on the way buys a sandwich to munch on and receives a paper bag and a foil wrapper along with the sandwich, she usually throws the foil and the bag away, instead what if she keeps the bag and the uses it put in her stationery and other little day to day garbage and then all together disposes of it.
Many of us throw away these kinds of small reusable pieces of garbage which are not garbage but gold. If we could utilize such small reusable pieces and help our environment our surroundings would become cleaner and greener. It is like giving back from where we get. Ecoconscious habits are one way of giving back what we get, it may include imbibing small healthy greener, and cleaner habits of having highly productive socially responsible enterprises. These activities don’t necessarily have to be some big fat CSR activities, but instead something little wherein employees carry their bottles to the workplace and refill water, instead of buying unfriendly PET bottles.
Another small step would be reusing printer stationery for wrapping, packing, and printing or writing on one side for plans and notes, for notetaking, planning, and rough work. Another way would be using metal dishes and glasses in industry canteens, this might be considered unclean in the West but in India, we shouldn’t mind doing that as it leads to less consumption of paper and plastic.
Employees can start a small recycling unit where they can recycle plastic, paper, and other recyclable items and be aware of the environment. These small steps impact industries, where every penny gets counted. A company that might encourage its employees to take these steps, as a part of their daily lifestyle can become the most productive organization.
Eco-consciousness should be imbibed in the company culture, it should be reflected in its people, in its norms, in its values, and most importantly in its leadership. Having effective interventions for the sake of developing an ecoconscious lifestyle begins at the workplace where people spend the majority part of their life. These interventions could be small as using social proofing techniques, using testimonials, using research-driven data, and impression management tactics. Putting eco-conscious efforts reduces the ecological footprint of mankind on the earth.
Finally, every drop of water contributes to a large pool, similarly every step, and every effort gets counted in an unaccountable book of record in the world and affects every process in the universe.
About the Author
