Insights

IA Global Climate Change Office Challenge

by IA Collaborative on 07.02.2020

Global Climate Change is a design problem. At IA, we work to create opportunities in many categories of responsible design and believe that Global Climate Change is one of several areas that deserve our attention. After all, we believe that design determines behavior.

In that spirit, we’re kicking off a 5-Day IA Global Climate Change Office Challenge.

Each day, we will set an actionable goal that you can participate in. It is our hope that these small actions might take hold and responsibly influence the way every one of us can contribute. Every effort counts!

The Challenge

Meatless Monday 

How might you forgo meat for one day? Livestock production accounts for 50% of our man-made carbon emissions.* What better day to start making a healthy change than on Monday? Read more about the benefits here.

*Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Talk Tuesday 

How might you talk to others about these ideas? Imagine if every office adopted all of these best practices? With numbers so large (paper accounts for 25% of landfill waste) every action really does count.

Water Wednesday 

How might you use less water? The average office uses 120 gallons of water per week simply by washing dishes. What can you do to minimize that number today? By using one glass and/or mug throughout the day, we can reduce the water we use via our dishwashers. 

  • Use one glass, and/or one mug throughout the day.
  • Skip placing food on a dish and eat directly from its container.

Plastic-free Thursday

How might you skip plastic altogether? IA has always avoided single-use plastic wear in favor of glass, metal and all-natural kitchen materials. We choose recycled materials when purchasing your pens and paper to help reduce the plastic waste that affects our oceans and marine life. Not so fun fact: it takes six years for one straw to biodegrade!

Actions we can take today include:

  • Skip straws.
  • Skip plastic bags or bring your own when transporting food from a restaurant to the office.

Zero Paper Friday

How might you go paperless? U.S. offices use 12.1 trillion sheets of paper per year. How can you help? Start today by challenging yourself to go paperless. 

  • Skip printing: see if you can work digitally by projecting your work instead of hanging it. 
  • Use hand dryers rather than paper towels. 
  • Use whiteboards instead of half-sheets. Bonus: standing up and moving around a white board gives your body a healthy break from sitting!
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