Be More Sustainable at Work, Starting with Food

Whether you’re bringing your food from home or grabbing takeout to bring back to the office, there are things you can do to reduce your foodprint — the impact of your food on animals, planet and people. Here are our tips for a more sustainable work lunch. And if you’re working from home, many of these tips still apply!

Go Meatless at Lunch

Sometimes you barely have the time to shovel food into your mouth, much less worry about what it is or where it’s from. But lunch is likely the biggest meal you eat during the daytime and therefore the easiest place to make an impact. The best way to reduce your lunch foodprint is to eat less meat. It’ll go a long way towards reducing your environmental impact. The United Nations IPCC report says that the food system is a driver of climate change, and suggests we should be moving towards plant-based eating. You can cut down every day or try adopting Meatless Monday. Pack or buy lunches that put plants at the center.

Push your Workplace to Buy Sustainable Food-Related Products

Think about all the coffee, tea, milk, creamer, sugar, paper towels, paper plates and cups, plastic cutlery, dish soap, sponges and bottled water that your employer buys. Get in good with the person in charge of making those purchasing decisions and see if they can switch to more sustainable suppliers. For consumables like drinks and snacks, push for Organic or Fair Trade Certified. Encourage bulk purchasing, like a tub of sugar instead of a million tiny packets.

Worried about getting your company on board? We get it — you may not want to rock the boat. So here are some arguments to help you persuade the people in charge:

“Some of these changes will end up saving the company money.” For instance, buying reusable dishes, flatware, cups, cleaning supplies and hand towels may be a substantial investment up-front, but they will lower costs over time.

“Some of these changes will just be more expensive, but might boost morale.” Justify the cost by getting a group of like-minded employees to band together to ask for better products. Frame the asks around making employees happy and how leadership can use these changes as a way to keep up morale.

“Having sustainability goals can make your company look good.” There’s a reason big businesses have been chasing customers with corporate responsibility for years now. Data shows consumers prefer brands that are more sustainable — and these numbers will only keep rising, as Gen Z is proving to be the most environmentally conscious generation yet. Pitch company interest in sustainability as an additional way to find and retain customers.

Remember, you can always bring your own green items if your company won’t get with the program. Share these tips with your colleagues and start your own workplace food revolution today.

Top photo by anaumenko /Adobe Stock.