Eco concerns affect working habits

Office staff have changed the way they perform tasks at work because of their concerns about the environment, new research has shown.

More than half (57%) frequently choose not to print out documents because they are worried about the environmental implications and 27% of those surveyed said the chances of them printing out more documents would be boosted if they knew it was carbon-free.

Conscientious workers are being more eco-friendly with their working habits despite the fact that 25% of people prefer working with hard copies of documents as opposed to reading them on screen in the form of emails or word processing documents.

However, some people are less environmentally minded, as the research found that 48% of office workers still print out important emails on a regular basis and 38% print out maps and directions. This is despite technological advancements which have seen emails becoming increasingly easy to access on mobile devices and a rising number of sophisticated GPS satellite navigation systems.

The results of the survey by Toshiba suggest businesses should take every possible step to ensure that printing is made as environmentally friendly as it can be for office workers who still show a preference for printing out hard copies of documents.

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