9 Eco-Friendly Earth Day Ideas for Work
With Earth Day rapidly approaching, you may be looking for ways to celebrate Earth Day at your workplace. And that’s great! From getting their hands in the dirt and planting trees to greening up the office and participating in company-wide sustainability challenges, there are plenty of ways that your team can celebrate Earth Day at work and make a meaningful impact for the planet!
As if helping the environment weren’t reason enough, a recent survey by the National Environmental Education Foundation found that of the employees surveyed: 97% believe that sustainability is critical to their company’s success, 93.5% believe their company’s sustainability work enhances its brand and 90% reported increased job satisfaction when involved in sustainability programs.
At a time when employee retention has proven challenging for many companies, meaningful employee engagement that has a tangible impact in your local community is a great way to increase employee satisfaction. It’s also a fun way to connect to nature, bond with your team and celebrate Earth Month in style!
Here are 9 unique ways to celebrate Earth Day at work
1. Get your hands in the dirt!
Hands-on environmental work offers the chance for teams to get outside, meet one another, and contribute to their communities and their local green spaces. Whether it’s planting trees at one of our Earth Month Planting Events, removing invasive species so that native ones can grow and thrive, establishing a community garden, or any other activity that’s available in your area, working together to restore your local environment is a rewarding and worthwhile way to celebrate Earth Day!
2. Start a Fundraiser for Nature
Fundraising for an environmental cause is a great way to get your employees engaged with sustainability. You can do this in a number of ways, including with matching gifts that double employee donations to their chosen nonprofit or by working with us to create a custom fundraising microsite that allows your employees to engage their families and communities to support the reforestation project of your choice.
3. create a green team
If your company doesn’t already have a green team or sustainability committee, Earth Month is a great time to establish one! Corporate green teams can work on a range of projects that help you level up your sustainability. This might include investigating ways to green up your supply chains, reducing your overall environmental footprint, educating fellow employees about ways to be sustainable or rolling out internal sustainability initiatives. Joining or forming a green team is a great way for motivated employees to make an impact!
4. Get an Energy Audit
Working together with an environmental auditing organization can help you identify areas where you could improve, reduce your carbon footprint, shrink utility bills and improve your overall business performance. There are many utility incentives out there that can make energy efficiency more affordable for your business, and the right organization can help you navigate the available incentives, determine what opportunities will serve your organization best (ie. choosing renewable energy sources) and create a plan to help you green up from the ground up!
5. Create an internal waste reduction initiative
The average office employee generates a lot of waste, which is bad for the environment and for your bottom line. You can help reduce your office footprint by creating or improving recycling stations near communal or dining areas, tasking your green team with creating accountability for following recycling rules, offering exciting rewards for the employees that recycle the most, and more. By setting business-wide or team-wide goals and following up on them, you can motivate your employees to significantly reduce their waste footprint!
6. lunch & learn for the environment
One of the best ways to celebrate Earth Month is by engaging an environmental expert or nonprofit representative to speak with your team about the environment and sustainability. You can do this in a number of ways, including booking someone for an in-person workshop, traveling offsite to learn in the field, or booking a virtual presentation that your employees can attend from anywhere. Interested in a virtual Lunch & Learn presentation to teach your employees about reforestation? Contact One Tree Planted today!
7. Meatless Monday Challenge
Join the Meatless Monday challenge to see if your entire workplace can go a whole day without meat! Why go meatless? Accounting for 80% of deforestation, land use change that is driven by agriculture is one of the leading causes of forest loss. And 75% of our planet’s agricultural land is used for livestock, which produces more carbon dioxide in a year than all of the planes, trains and automobiles in the world. That means that skipping meat for even just one day every week can add up to a pretty significant impact over time.
8. Recognize employees that go above and beyond for the planet
You know who we’re talking about: the one that walks or bikes to work, brings their lunch from home in the same reusable container every day, fills their water bottle from the tap and recycles religiously. These are the employees that have, on their own initiative, moved their environmental commitment forward from talk into action — and they’ve got the green “street cred” to prove it. By recognizing their commitment to the planet, you can show them that you see all that they are doing, and encourage other employees to follow suit!
9. organize a nature hike
Aside from planting trees or participating in sustainability initiatives, we believe that one of the best ways to celebrate Earth Month is by getting outside and enjoying nature. Because after all, we protect what we care about — and a strong connection to nature is great for our physical and mental health. So round everyone up for a walk at a nearby park or a hike through a local forest and enjoy some team bonding time in the great outdoors! You can either take a self-guided hike or engage a local nature guide to enrich the experience!
So there you have it: 9 creative ideas for Earth Day activities at work! Looking to become a more sustainable business in honor of Earth Month? Sign up your business and become an official One Tree Planted reforestation business partner today!