Sun Study Shows Being Green Stops at Work
Sun Study Shows Being Green Stops at Work
August 6th, 2007: The poll commissioned by Sun Microsystems has shown employees are using energy saving methods at home, but are not applying the same practices in the workplace.
The survey conducted by Harris Interactive polled 1,741 US employees aged 18-54 who work for companies of 25 employees or more. 73 percent of workers said it is important to them that their employer is an environmentally and socially responsible company. In contrast to this, 58% of those surveyed said they turn off computers at home when they aren’t using them, while only 34% did the same in the workplace.
Amusing how we don our global warming crusade tabards when it comes to our home, yet when we get to work suddenly we are energy guzzling fiends once again. What can be deduced from this? Well perhaps the answer lies not in a failure to be green at work, but rather when we aren’t paying the power bill, after all "Businesses don't cut power consumption -- people do," said Dave Douglas, Vice President of Eco Responsibility at Sun Microsystems.
It’s quite an attractive crusade to be on around the home, turn off lights, turn off the pc, shower faster, use energy saving gizmos, all of which have the added benefit of saving us money. So not only do we get to pat ourselves on the back and tell each other at dinner how wonderful our eco friendly attitude is, the power bill is in a steady decline as well. When we get to work though it’s no longer our power bill and if we’re green at work it’s the company who gets the pat on the back, not us. Suddenly it’s not quite as crusade worthy to save the planet at work.
This isn’t to say we lack true believers practicing what they preach; the poll found 52% of workers are in fact turning off the lights when they leave a room at work. Yet of that same group 92% are turning off the lights when they leave a room at home. The disparity has to come from somewhere and the logical conclusion is eco-responsibility attitudes in the workplace need to change. “The good news is that your employees care about the environment, but they may need your help in realizing how much they can actually make a difference" Douglas said.