Being an Eco-Friendly Employee

By: Teresa Odle -CTW Features | Wednesday, November 28, 2007 3:25 PM PST ∞

At home, we recycle cans, cardboard and plastic, buy environmentally friendly products and follow the kids around, turning off lights to save energy. But at the office, we seldom consider the wasted paper that goes into circulated memos and often leave the computer on all night. We might even run a space heater under our desks in summer because the rest of the office insists on lowering the thermostat.

Maybe it’s something about individual versus collective conscience, but it’s certainly changing. A recent survey by staffing firm Adecco USA reported that one-third of American workers would prefer to work for a green company, and more than one-half wish their employers would be more environmentally friendly. “As the talent war continues and organizations have to attain or retain their position as employer of choice, the factor of being a green or environmentally friendly company will become much more prevalent,” says Bernadette Kenny, Adecco’s chief career officer in its Melville, N.Y. location. Kenny says many factors are converging to drive the trend, including global warming, the effects Hurricane Katrina, the hybrid-car phenomenon and the popularity of the movie “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Employees often drive the trend, says Kate Tomford, senior policy adviser with the Office of Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. Tomford says often an employee starts by simply posting signs on printers and copiers around the office urging co-workers to recycle paper or print double-sided, for example. She works with a program first established in 2001 that operates through the Green Government Coordinating Council and incorporates healthful and resource-conserving practices into state agencies, colleges and universities, and municipalities throughout Illinois.

“We try to encourage policies such as carpooling or filling up with E85 [ethanol] if you have a flex-fuel vehicle,” says Tomford. She says that makes economic sense in Illinois, too, since the state has many corn producers. The program’s Web site offers 20 greening tips for employers and a test employers can take to assess how green they are.

After Adecco’s survey, the company took its own advice and created a committee of volunteers to assess how the company could become more green. “I was amazed that we had more than 20 volunteers,” says Kenny.

She says the company now tries to ensure that its employees are working in safe and environmentally friendly workplaces.

In Contra Costa County, Calif., Lynn Osborn says employers have been environmentally active since at least 1992.

In the early 1990s, legislation required work sites of 100 employees or more to establish plans for transportation-demand management. Osborn, program manager of 511 Contra Costa in Pleasant Hill, says her program has long worked with new and existing employers.

A voluntary annual survey tracks employers’ vehicle-employee ratio, how employees get to work and their attitudes about various alternatives. Many employers offer incentives to encourage carpooling and the use of mass transit. “The new AT&T campus in San Ramon [Calif.] has 6,000 employees or more, and acres of parking; those who carpool or vanpool register for a special sticker for preferential parking,” says Osborn.

Transportation is just one green effort employers and employees can make. Many companies also work to save energy, recycle, use nontoxic products and purchase from vendors who follow the same principles.

If in a job search, you may identify employers with sound green policies by researching their Web sites, where Kenny says many publish environmental statements.

Tomford adds that if you’re aware of organizations, such as the Chicago Climate Exchange, that employers can voluntarily join and check to see if the potential employer is a member.

“That’s a good sign that they’re taking this to heart,” she says. “And when interviewing, it’s easy to look around and see what’s in place. If all employees have recycling bins, are they being used?” says Tomford. Look for signs of green policies in the application process and on the work site, and you’ll get a good idea of the corporate culture.

Finally, if you have a passion for the environment, Tomford says you can certainly highlight the experience on your résumé. Kenny says an employer obviously looks at your skills first, but it can’t hurt to let an employer know when your passion for all things green matches the company culture. If you’d like to make some changes at your current workplace, don’t hesitate to come forward.

“The businesses and institutions that have been most effective in greening usually have some employee who is championing the cause internally,” says Tomford.