At Les Petits Prödiges we are committed to helping you discover and convert to a more environmentally friendly way of life.
We are revealing our "tips" to help you adopt a daily green routine.
And as a new month rhymes with a new Green challenge, close to " Zero waste objective in my kitchen ”so here is:

“Zero waste objective in the office”

In this new year, coming back to the office, we realized that if we were more and more "green" in our bathroom and in our kitchen, in the office where we spend at least 1/3 of our day, we are probably a little picking up ...

So we set ourselves the challenge of creating a list of tips to adopt to be 100% responsible, even in the office!
But being green in the office still seems a bit limited no? Apart from switching off in the evening when you leave and avoiding printing at all costs, we don't really see how to reduce pollution ...

Rest assured we will help you there because there are a lot of eco-friendly actions easy to do!
The idea is to limit waste little by little, not to stop producing it completely. Don't aim too high, too fast.

According to a study of the association Zero Waste France :
- 83% of employees believe that waste management is not optimal in their office.
- And among them, 96% say they are ready to change certain working procedures to improve the sorting system.
Good news, right ?! Let's get started!

For example ... Did you know that storing data, doing research on the Internet, sending or keeping an email, these daily and essential actions which seem harmless, contribute to increasing the ecological bill ?

Many of our practices, even those that we did not suspect to have an impact on the environment, are very harmful to our planet.

Here are our 10 green friendly tips!

1. I print less!

An employee consumes between 70 and 85 kg of paper each year ... It's HUGE!

Barely 35% of companies recycle paper and 25% of sheets are thrown away five minutes after being printed .
There is therefore work in this area. Especially since French paper makers lack raw material ...

The gestures that we know but that it is always good to remember:

I print:

• only if I really need it (especially emails)
• in black and white,
• double-sided,
• I recycle in draft mode the sheets of which only 1 side has been used.

2. I put my computer to sleep

I set the standby system of my computer so that it goes into standby mode after 5 minutes of inactivity (when I go to the coffee machine for example), and so that it switches on in hibernation after 20 minutes (during a meeting).
In the evening, before leaving, I completely shut down my computer because even in sleep mode, it still consumes 20 to 40% of energy. Ah, and I am also thinking of pressing the "off" button on the printer and the one on the copier.
An end of day ritual that takes 2 min!

3.I clean my mailbox

Did you know that 80% of emails (such as newsletters, Linkedin news, etc.) are never opened?
And that spam emits as much as 3 million cars per year?
The employee of an SME sends an average of 33 emails each day, generating alone and per year 180 kg of CO2 which is equivalent to 1,000 km traveled by car

So, to make things easier, we are already unsubscribing from all useless newsletters (not that of the Petits Prödiges, of course!)

We also avoid sending dozens of emails with colleagues. We prefer instant messaging or for the more motivated, we send documents by USB key.

The helping hand: There are tools to clean your emails.
Ex: The French start-up Cleanfox scan your mailbox and submit a selection of what could be deleted . A simple gesture, accessible to all to reduce digital pollution.
Planet bonus: Each time a person is sponsored to use the Cleanfox application, a tree is planted in Zambia!

4. I use an eco-friendly

search engine

P To reduce my CO² emissions, I use a search engine that uses less energy than e the one we all know ...
Some examples:

• Blackle.com for example uses black as the dominant color, which allows energy savings of around 20% per use.
• Ecosia.org , a green search engine of which 80% of the income is donated to a tree planting program in Brazil.
• Lilo.org , the French startup that collects the drops of water and donates 50% of its income to committed projects.

5. I hold meetings by phone or from the home office

I limit my business trips and therefore my CO² production.
How? By avoiding crossing the whole city in a taxi for a two-hour meeting and instead favoring Skype-type videoconferences .
The home office also allows you to increase your productivity and improve his mood!
Working from home reduces gas emissions and energy consumption.
On average, companies save around 10,000 euros per year per employee who works from home! Talk to your boss !!

6. I sort my waste

I avoid throwing sheets of paper, my coffee cup and the rest of my sandwich in the same bin. And to facilitate recycling, I use a basket for paper and cardboard and another for everything else: plastic, used cups, leftover food. If your company is not equipped for sorting, talk to the management, it is not (anymore!) Normal!

7. I bring my mug, my water bottle and my Tupperware

In France, 126 cups are consumed per second and 32,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year . Very few are recycled.
When we know that a cup thrown in the wild takes more than a century to degrade , we realize that the ecological impact of a simple machine coffee is enormous.
To make a small gesture, I bring my mug or a thermos of coffee to the office and a stainless steel bottle to replace my water bottle. If I still have to take a cup, I reuse it a few times before throwing it away.

8. I get on my bike

If I don't live too far from my office, I play it chic and green with c my own bike or using a vélib (or other self-service bike) .Not only ec olo, but good for morale !
Some big cities have recently been invaded by electric scooters, a new ecological way of getting around, so no more excuses! more fulfilled at work than their colleagues who use their car or public transport, who quickly tend to put their nerves on edge.
If I live too far away, I opt for public transport or co -ridesharing.

9. I always have a tote bag on hand

No more plastic bags ... To take my lunch, go mail my mail or place orders. The tote bag accompanies me all day long between the office, sports and home.

We offer ours in 100% Organic Cotton: to shop here!

10. I don't turn the heat on full!

Except in periods of Siberian cold, there is no question of forcing the heating; I set the thermostat to 19 ° C instead of 20 ° C to save 7% on heating consumption and I always have a life jacket in the office to cover me when needed. This is often enough!

Bonus tips for super greens:
Cultivate your garden in the company!

Nature has recognized beneficial properties for health and well-being. According to a survey of 3,600 employees in more than eight countries, employee productivity increases by 8% and their well-being by 13% when their work environment is planted with plants and lit by natural light. t26>

So you can bring your green plants to the office! Some have real depolluting virtues, since their leaves absorb substances harmful to health (Aloe Vera, philodendron, azalea ...)

And if you want to take it up a notch, ask your boss to set up a vegetable garden in the open space!

And there you have no more excuses thanks to these easy-to-adopt reflexes which are good for our planet!

If you liked these tips, don't hesitate to check out our article " Zero waste in my bathroom "!

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