Small everyday changes can help businesses build a greener workplace and reduce their environmental footprint, writes Md. Nafis Anowar Santo.
WE ARE LIVING through an extraordinary period of technological growth.
New gadgets and digital services are becoming part of everyday life at a remarkable pace. But this rapid progress comes with an environmental cost. The production and use of technology contribute to carbon emissions, increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and, in turn, add to the pressures driving climate change.
In response, businesses worldwide are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprints and move toward carbon neutrality. But achieving that goal requires more than simply introducing a few environmentally friendly measures. It calls for a broader change in corporate culture — a shift away from a purely competitive mindset towards one that places greater importance on sustainability.
This is where the idea of a “green culture” comes in. At its heart, it is about adopting values and everyday practices that reduce environmental harm. Businesses can encourage such a culture among their employees, while individuals can also play a role by setting an example in their daily lives.
The changes do not always have to be dramatic. Taking public transport instead of driving, recycling where possible, reusing products rather than throwing them away and being more conscious of consumption are all relatively simple steps. Individually, they may seem small, but when adopted by large numbers of people, their combined impact can be significant.
Even our emails have an environmental cost
Digital technology can sometimes appear almost invisible. An email sitting in an inbox, for example, does not seem to have much of an environmental impact. Yet the data behind that email has to be stored somewhere.
In a recent statement concerning water shortages in the UK, the National Drought Group highlighted the resources required to maintain the digital services people use every day. Every email, photo, file or other piece of information stored online relies on servers, which require electricity to operate and, in many cases, water for cooling.
That means clearing out unnecessary digital clutter can have an environmental benefit, even if the effect of deleting a single email is tiny. Across millions of users, however, those small actions can begin to add up.
Research from the University of Oxford has also highlighted the enormous amount of water used by data centres. Even a relatively small facility can require millions of litres of water each year. Meanwhile, major technology companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft operate data centres in regions where water resources are already under pressure.
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is adding another layer to the issue. As AI systems require increasingly powerful computing infrastructure, demand for data centres – and the resources needed to operate them – is expected to grow as well. The BBC has reported concerns that AI-related data centres could consume enormous quantities of water globally in the coming years.
For ordinary users, there are a few straightforward ways to reduce unnecessary digital storage:
- delete emails and files that are no longer needed;
- close old email accounts that are no longer being used; and
- unsubscribe from mailing lists and newsletters that are no longer relevant.
These may appear to be minor housekeeping tasks, but they are also reminders that our digital lives have a physical footprint.
Rethinking the way we use paper
The environmental impact of technology is not limited to data centres. Traditional office practices, including printing, can also consume considerable amounts of natural resources.
Paper production is closely linked to deforestation and requires substantial quantities of water and energy. Once printed documents are no longer needed, many end up in bins and eventually in landfills, creating yet another environmental burden.
Printers and photocopiers also require electricity every time they are used. In places where electricity generation still relies heavily on fossil fuels, that energy use contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
Businesses can reduce some of this impact by changing the way they print. One of the simplest measures is to use double-sided, or duplex, printing. Printing on both sides of a sheet can substantially reduce the amount of paper required, with studies suggesting that paper consumption can fall by as much as half.
The wider lesson is that sustainability does not always depend on expensive technology or sweeping corporate programmes. Sometimes, it begins with relatively ordinary decisions — how we travel, what we throw away, which emails we keep and even how we use a sheet of paper.
When those decisions become part of everyday workplace culture, they can help businesses move beyond simply talking about sustainability and begin making it part of how they operate.
Md. Nafis Anowar Santo holds an LLM in International Law and an LLB (Honours) from the University of Dhaka. He is an Advocate enrolled with the Bangladesh Bar Council and has completed a certificate course on Refugee Law and Protection of Refugees and Other Persons of Concern to UNHCR, organised by the UNHCR Representation in Bangladesh.
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