Earth Day Special: How can my company be greener?

Having a few electric scooters at the office is a good solution for those who have meetings outside the office. If the distance is small and the weather is good – it is only a pleasure to scoot to a meeting, avoiding city traffic and parking headaches.

At Paysera we use scooters not only for meetings (most of which are online now anyway) but also for leisure. Company scooters can be taken home for weekends and enjoyed with the family. This also helps to reduce the need for employees to buy their own scooters as they can always borrow one from the office if needed.

If the meetings are out of walking or scooting distance – it is a good idea to change your company vehicles for electric cars. This is not only a greener option but often gets you better parking near shopping centres and in the old town, which will also save time and hassle. Not to mention the priority lane for electric cars (at least that's what we have in Vilnius, Lithuania!).

That’s right – enabling remote working does contribute to a better environment. Working from home reduces hours and hours of commuting time for employees, making it a greener working practice. 

At Paysera, remote working was officially recognised during the pandemic and now more than half of company employees work from home at least a few times per week. 

After changing the Paysera logo in March 2022, we have had some surplus of branded merchandise leftover with the old logo – which is always the case no matter how much in advance you plan it. 

Throwing it away was never an option, so we thought of creative ways to put it to use. For example, leftover lanyards were gladly accepted and are now being used by NGOs who have hundreds of members and often organise events that require name tags. Warm and comfortable jumpers were gifted to the Ukrainian refugees who are temporarily living at the Paysera office, etc. 

Something that sounds like basic practice is still not standard in some offices. At Paysera we do our best to recycle and have dedicated bins for that all over the office. Of course, it really helps that we have our own office and can control these administrative processes, which can be out of reach for someone who is simply renting an office space. 

Everyone wants to treat their employees once in a while – presents and merchandise of course are always nice but how much can one company produce? This is one of the reasons why every month we do our best to organise some activities for our employees. 

Group activities are not only great for team building but are also a much more environmentally friendly way to reward people. Badminton, tennis, pottery, painting, VR games, walking challenges, kayaking, skiing – you name it. All of them leave almost no waste behind, only good memories and great photos! 

Some companies have vending machines in the office, however, every snack there is tightly packaged. What we do at Paysera is provide free fruit and nuts in all office kitchens. It is not only a healthy snack for people but also a snack that produces little to no plastic waste. 

Create a comfortable environment for your colleagues to bring food from home. Having plates, cutlery, a dishwasher, a microwave or even a small kitchenette with a stovetop provides all the necessary conditions for employees to bring lunches from home and warm them up in the office. This helps to avoid dozens of single-use containers that come every time with food delivery. 

Have your own office? Make use of free rooftop space by installing solar panels on it. Even if the energy produced is not enough for the office, it can be sold to the market. Many countries have incentives for the solar panel installation process, so it’s a good idea to look into it before getting to work. 

Equipping office premises with LED lights undoubtedly saves tonnes of energy, which is good both for the wallet and for the planet. Moreover, electric sensors ensure that no lights are left on when they are not needed. These are some of the most practical and straightforward tips that definitely work in different environments. 

Similar to lighting, heating can also be managed more efficiently across different office rooms. At Paysera, each room has an automatic heating configuration, which helps to save up to 30 per cent of heat during cold Lithuanian winters. 

These are just a few examples, many of which don’t require a big commitment and can be done in every office space. And if not – you can still make your company greener by making a personal commitment as an employee – think twice before printing something out, use more eco-friendly fonts (that’s right, it’s a thing), don’t abuse the free office stationery policy and use just as much as you actually need.