Brits unconcerned about losing power at work as they’re ‘not paying’
Employees were more likely to be wasteful at work than they were at home – and it’s all because they aren’t the ones footing the bill
A recent study has revealed that since they’re not footing the bills, over a third of workers in small businesses don’t think twice about energy usage at their workplace.
Almost half say they are so swamped with work they don’t have a second to be more considerate about energy usage in the office. Yet, three quarters are clueless about what their company shells out monthly on utilities.
According to a survey of 1,000 employees, a good 50% have left gadgets on sleep mode rather than shutting them down completely, or have kept idle kit plugged in.
Moreover, 48% have been guilty of overfilling the kettle, 38% often forget to turn off the lights, and nearly 20% own up to leaving doors wide open when either the heating or air conditioning is blasting.
Meanwhile, 12% even use company showers to save money on their own water bills and use printers to print off unnecessary documents.
Can you spot these office energy wasters?
“Employees are more mindful of energy use at home but, understandably, at work, they have their mind on other things,” explains Victoria Bacon, a director at Smart Energy GB, which conducted the research.
She explains that there’s an opportunity for small businesses to bring staff on board when it comes to managing their energy use, and encourage them to adopt more energy-saving behaviours in the workplace.
“One small thing owners can do is to get a smart meter installed,” she explained. “The data they provide can help businesses monitor their usage and identify where they can make cost savings.
“Being mindful of waste, and even making small changes, could save money on their employers’ energy bills and reduce their impact on the environment.”
READ MORE: Simple £100 microwave change that could save money as energy bills riseREAD MORE: Thousands of Brits who work from home could be owed £62 tax refund from HMRC
TOP 10 ENERGY WASTES AT WORK:
- Left printers and copiers on standby
- Kept unused equipment plugged in
- Boiled the kettle with more water than I needed
- Left lights on in empty rooms
- Printed things unnecessarily
- Used lifts instead of stairs for short trips
- Used personal heaters instead of central heating
- Kept doors open unnecessarily when heating or cooling was on
- Used too much lighting in naturally bright areas
- Failed to switch off meeting room projectors and screens
