6 ways Malaysians can save money and the planet from your office chair
When you run a business, playing “catch-up” is taxing and a never-ending game. You’re running to the pace of other people and not setting your own path.
Entrepreneurs have to look to the future and catch trends before they take off.
In recent years, Malaysians have become a lot more concerned with environmental activism, especially as the climate crisis reaches our doorstep.
Those sensitive to consumer needs will immediately understand that an eco-friendly lifestyle is the future. More and more Malaysians are making environmentally-conscious purchase decisions.
To stay ahead of the game, businesses should start looking into implementing eco-friendly practices both in and out of the office for all aspects of the business.
1. Anything that can be done digitally should be.
Let’s be real, paper is out-dated. Anything that isn’t 100% necessary in hard copy should just be sent as an email in .pdf.
Not only are emails way easier and faster to trace and find, there’s no paper and ink wastage either!
Trust us, it’s better than a million invoices floating around and getting lost. Plus, less office supply expenses, kan?
2. Use a reusable lunch box for your tapau lunches
Set a good example to your employees and get reusable lunch boxes, utensils, and straws. Make sure you actually use it for lunches though!
Having a eco-friendly work culture will spread as more people will adopt the habit. Soon, the whole office will bring zero-waste lunches (hopefully)!
3. Provide recycling bins
Have bins in the office dedicated to recyclables such as paper, glass, and aluminium cans. It may take a bit more effort to have the recyclables sorted and sent to a center, but it’s worth it.
Besides, you can definitely start a paper toss war in the office.
4. Less air-conditioning
So many people have additional jackets in the office because they tend to get really cold quickly.
With how hot Malaysia is, it’s super tempting to have a chilly office work space, but not only is that hard on your electricity bills, it’s also hard on the planet.
Besides, women tend to work better in slightly warmer offices, so that’s a good incentive to warm up.
5. Turn off the lights and electronics when not in use (duh)
We all learned this in Standard 1 but so many of us still forget to do this.
If you are the last to leave a room, turn everything off. It takes less than a minute and literally you have nothing to lose by doing this.
6. Cigarette butt bins at designated smoking areas
We get it, work is stressful. Some of us may need a smoke (or four, or ten) throughout the day, but be mindful and keep your butt in the bin.
Cigarette butts should never be littered on the ground, as the poisons leech into our waterways which lead out to the ocean.
So put your butt where it belongs: in the trash.
If you would like to learn more about how to be part of Malaysia’s future, here’s an opportunity to hear from the founder of the #SayNo2Plastic movement herself!
Tengku Zatashah Idris started the movement in 2015 and actively practices a zero-waste lifestyle.
She will be at the Wild Digital conference on 4th July 2019 to speak about building cities of the future and how zero-waste and eco-friendliness plays a part.
Catch her and other CEOs, founder, and investors of leading tech companies at Wild Digital Southeast Asia 2019’s “Advancing SEA’s Billion-Dollar Ideas” conference. Get your tickets on the website here.
