Green Attitudes

At the start of 2010 Avery conducted a national environment survey to find out office workers' views on helping the environment. The results highlighted some worrying trends.

• One in three office workers has a lazy attitude when it comes to looking after the environment at work.
• Despite huge efforts to make people aware of the environmental and economical impacts of their actions, 36% of the UK admit nothing is stopping them from doing their bit, but they just don't bother!
• 69% of respondents believe that being eco-friendly at work will make a substantial difference to the environment.
• 46% of us say it's important our companies should act responsibly when it comes to the green issues.
• Office workers still believe the best way to make a difference is by recycling products after use, with only 11% of us consciously choosing environmentally friendly office supplies in the first place.
• Just 34% chose to consume less energy in a bid to reduce their working footprint even though the survey found British businesses waste over £120 million each year just by leaving the office lights on.
• Two thirds of office workers said they were not aware that their organisation had any environmental targets in place, and just 18% were told about targets during their induction.
• One third of all UK offices still do not have any recycling facilities, and less than a quarter has a full environmental policy in place.
• Office workers admitted that the lack of empowerment, facilities and communication are the key reasons why they are not greener during working hours. 47% even said that they are less conscious reducing power consumption because they aren't the ones paying the bills.