Get to work green

So, perhaps you have found that fantastic environmental job you’ve always hoped for, or made it into a nice ethical job with a charity that makes your social conscience significantly lighter. You’ve already improved the office’s recycling system, swapped all the old lightbulbs for energy saving ones, ensured all lights are turned off at 5pm on pain of death, and so on. How much more environmentally responsible could you be at work?

Well, there is something you may need to improve; the daily journey to work. According to national statistics, we are travelling further to work than we ever did before. With more cars on the road than there have ever been, a significant proportion of work-travel is done by car. Two journeys a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year; it all adds up to a big green headache.

There are, several ways you can make a difference as you get to work every day. Take a look at our guide to getting to work green, for a guilt-free and more harmonious daily commute:

1. Public Transport: Here in the UK we have all become so accustomed to using our cars that we see it as our right to own and use one as much as possible. It can actually be quicker to take the train, however; there are no traffic jams on the railtracks. If your commute is the same every day, you may find that a season ticket on the bus or the train can be cheaper than running a car, once fuel costs, insurance, repairs, road tax and MOTs are taken into account.
2. Efficient cars: If you must use a car for work, that car need not be a gas-guzzler. A more efficient car will save you money on fuel, and even if your employer pays your petrol expenses, you will feel better about your effect on the environment.
3. Sharing: Car sharing can be a great way to reduce carbon emissions. If five single people living in the same office drive roughly the same way at the same time, how difficult could it be to work out a car-pooling system? Everyone would save money on fuel, everyone would reduce their carbon footprint, and you may even have a chance to get to know each other better too!
4. Conferences: If you are required to travel for work to attend conferences and the like further afield, it might be worth organising a minibus for you and your colleagues. It can work out cheaper for your employer to pay for a single minibus than for the petrol expenses of eight separate cars, and saving your boss money will earn you special brownie points.
5. Your own steam: feeling a little heavier following the Christmas period? Trying all sorts of diets and forcing yourself to eat fruit all day? There is an easier way to fit a little slimming into your day. Why not walk or cycle to work once in a while? Those extra 20 or 30 minutes exercise a day can really make a difference, and gets your fitness effort out of the way before 9am, leaving you to concentrate on work rather than detoxing.

Follow these tips and you’ll soon be the greenest commuter in the office, and in the meantime, JuicyJobs.biz has plenty more green job listings just waiting for you.