We are all aware of how we affect our planet; talk about deforestation, pollution from our automobiles, and mining effects. Finally, our planet is receiving the care and attention it truly deserves from numerous individuals and companies worldwide.
If you manage a coworking space, it is incumbent on you to make your coworking space more sustainable by respecting nature. This kind gesture will put your business on a gold platter; it attracts more coworking space users and investors. Coworking space is a hub for nursing green thoughts, so making it sustainable makes it greener by default.
How To Make Your Coworking Space Sustainable
1. Choose The Right Building
Firstly, you need to understand the type of coworking space you want to invest in. Many people see a coworking hub and assume they are all the same. No! They are not all the same.
There are conventional coworking spaces and high-end coworking spaces which provide more amenities than conventional ones. Other types include corporate, private, minimal, subleased, lifestyle coworking space, amongst others.
If you’re planning to lay the foundation of your coworking space, then good for you as you have the opportunity to make the right decisions. When you are at the planning stage, select a building that follows the green building standard. Are you wondering what that means? They are buildings built with materials that have little or no environmental impact.
2. Water and Power Efficiency
You might need to spend extra bucks doing this, but they are worth every penny you spend in purchasing them. Invest in energy-saving bulbs rather than the regular bulb; this will reduce your electricity bill to the bare minimum.
Also, opt for a water-saving sink and low-flush water closet to reduce water usage. Encourage the space member to put their electronics in power saving and make sure to switch off sockets and other power outlets when they are done using them.
3. Efficient Lighting
Yes! Lighting is important in the coworking space, but unnecessary lighting drains power. To minimize light usage, install motion-sensitive lights that switch on when it notices motion in the space and switch off when it senses that no one is left in the space.
Also, replace the regular bulbs with LEDs or just rely on natural sunlight by making the space spacious and fitted with lots of windows.
4. Consider Solar Power
One of the most innovative ways of sustaining power is using the sun as a source of energy. Rather than investing heavily in electricity, where you get to pay outrageous bills at the end of the month, you can easily opt for a solar power system.
5. Recycling
We all know about biodegradable and nonbiodegradable materials. Ensure a trash can is placed at strategic locations in your coworking space to limit littering and promote recycling. Make provision for separate trash cans for paper, plastic, and bottles.
6. Ditch Papers And Opt For Soft Copies
The number of papers used in offices, coworking spaces, and other ventures is so high that numerous trees are cut each day across the globe to make more. To completely eradicate this, you can consider going digital and using cloud storage for file transfer.
7. Make Your Coworking Space Greener
Investing in energy-saving devices and ditching materials that contribute to negative environmental impact is not enough. Try purifying your coworking space by planting plants around the space and in offices.
This will boost the morale of the users and create an eco-friendly environment.
8. Promote Greener Commuting
Using cars and other vehicles to commute daily contributes to environmental pollution, and to curb this, you can encourage coworking space users to use bikes or walk to the hub if it is not too far. To make sure everyone starts adhering to this, you can grant winners of the challenge a token or give them premium access at the hub.
9. Raise Awareness
You have to practice what you preach to ensure everyone adopts the sustainability tips. Create a print on mugs, pens, baseball caps and sensitize members and other people around.
Coworking space is where great minds meet; you can meet to create a group to keep promoting and raising green awareness.
Conclusion
Making your coworking space a greener place has a lot of benefits to you, the users and the planet provided you take it one step at a time. It will take time before people adopt the greener mode of living, so don’t force it. Rather be patient and explain the benefits to them.
Conclusively, making your coworking space profitable and popular is important, but remember we are human first before being business owners; remember the planet as well.
