Green Behavior at Home and in the Office

According to a British survey, workers leave their eco-friendly habits at home. Behaviors like switching off lights and the computer and boiling only the needed amount of drinking water were substantially more infrequent at work compared to home.

Employees argued that they looked to their bosses for example and speed and efficiency came before green issues at work. Hence the neglect.

One can think of a number of additional issues besides electricity use that would likely yield the same result. Copiers are a common source of waste; my personal experience has been that the busier the office, the more paper and copy services are overused, beyond what is necessary.

In certain businesses, we are talking about issues like corporate travel; document transportation; and so on. The further up the chain we go, the larger the issues get.

On the other hand, in organizations like hospitals or food services companies, the issues may be slightly different and probably even greater. It would be interesting to know whether there is a difference between state vs. privately owned organizations.

Improvements could take place in a number of areas, such as commitment to sorting waste at the site; food procurement vs. actual consumption levels and recycling of biodegradables; commitment to recycling packaging materials (such as drink cartons); safe and appropriate use of cleaning agents; use of non-reusable vs. reusable cutlery and crockery; and the like.

But the point is, should CSR, as most other good things in the world, begin at the corporate "home", inside the firm? How does the level of CSR credibility of a business change over time, if the firm applies responsible behaviors intra firm -- or not?