I THE ENVIRONMENTAL PILLAR

The environmental pillar means establishing a harmonious relationship with the environment by using natural resources responsibly and reducing environmental damage, such as water and air pollution, the amount of waste, loss of biodiversity, etc.

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.

Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

These Objectives Can Be Attained Through Responsible And Sustainable Consumption

The terms “sustainable consumption” and “responsible consumption” complement one another.

Sustainability in this case highlights a minimal burden on the environment, while responsible consumption covers the quality of life, proper economic integration and growth as well as the reduced consumption of natural resources.

When it comes to sustainable consumption, it is important to meet our needs in a way that reduces the impact on the environment, while responsible consumption means personal responsibility for the impact of the purchased product on all three components of sustainable development. While sustainability is often understood as maintaining a balance among three essential pillars, i.e. the economy, social relations and environmental protection, the concept of sustainable consumption puts more emphasis on our relationship with the environment when making simple life decisions or purchasing goods and services; consequently, responsible consumption can be influenced not only by the environmental aspect, but also by the social or economic ones. By integrating and applying these concepts in practice we can expect the best results.

Responsible Consumption

The first step towards responsible consumption is Prevention (Latin praeventio) - advance action to stop something from happening. Waste prevention means reducing the amount of waste, ideally to zero. The main goal of both the circular economy and prevention is to minimise or completely avoid the amount of waste.

Being responsible means having an obligation to deal with something or having control over it. User responsibility is the impact that personal purchasing and consumption decisions have on certain systems and the consequences that depend on different factors.

Both the working environment and the person working in it can therefore significantly influence the environmental and sustainable development pillar and help achieve responsible consumption both as an individual and as a member of one’s community.

The Office

Avoiding disposable items (disposable containers and utensils, towels, etc.)

Proper maintenance of items, repairing them in case of failure

Applying the principle of sharing – such as sharing a company’s vehicles when they are not needed for the performance of direct daily duties

Creating opportunities to work from home where direct contact is not needed (lower costs thanks to sustainable economy: fewer workstations, no need for transportation, etc.)

The Employee

Chooses the greenest way to travel to work: if possible on foot, by bicycle, by bus or shares the same vehicle with his or her colleagues

Does not bring any disposable items to work

Switches on electrical lighting only when necessary for work and unplugs all electronic devices that do not require continuous power (phone chargers, computers, printers, electric kettles or coffee machines, etc.) when leaving for the day

Waste Reduction

Sustainable consumption

This concept is specifically related to the environment in which goods and services are purchased. Sustainable consumption allows us to save more resources and better protect the environment. It is a type of consumption whereby the use of natural resources is reduced by choosing only those products or services that are truly necessary and by focusing on extending the life cycle of an item whether through recycling or its subsequent reuse.

The Office

Only reusable and long-lasting items that improve the quality of work are purchased upon careful consideration (water filters are installed to avoid using water bottles, energy-saving light bulbs and solar panels are used, etc.).

Choose larger packages when buying hygiene products

Choose larger packages when buying food and beverages

Use and distribution of promotional merchandise (avoid disposable items and unnecessary flyers and leaflets, reduce and replace them with QR codes, etc.)

The Employee

Keep your workplace tidy, which will help avoid using unnecessary items

Print on both sides of paper and do it only when necessary.

Share stationery that you don't need every day with your colleagues