This is not surprising, given the flight from urban centers that has occurred since the pandemic closures around the world, and the many companies that have since announced plans to move completely to remote or hybrid offices and downsize their office space. As offices shrink and close, it’s time to think seriously about what to do with all that waste, and an approach that considers the environment and the communities in which employees live and work is a good place to start. According to a McKinsey & Company study, more than 20 percent of the workforce can work three to five days a week as efficiently as they can in the office, meaning three to four times as many people can still work from home as before the pandemic. To make sure we’re doing the right thing, we’re partnering with Green Standards an organization that uses donations, resale and recycling to keep workplace furniture and equipment out of the landfill and have a positive impact on the local community. Download the full Digital 2021 report with data on online behavior in 220 countries to learn where to focus your social marketing efforts and how to best reach your target audience. Looking for the best for our employees and our community, and through many conversations with the Green Standards team, we’ve come to see how we can add value to organizations in need in our community with the resources we have. Whether it’s a warehouse or a company-wide consolidation, the trick is to create value by aligning the project with broader business initiatives, from accountability and transparency to community investment and sustainability goals. They helped us convert 19 tons of corporate waste into in-kind donations totaling $19,515 for B. C. Association of Native Courtworkers and Counselors. Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver, Jewish Family Services of Vancouver and the Food Bank of Greater Vancouver. To be sure, the pandemic has accelerated the mass transition to telework like never before, and research is beginning to support the idea that hybrid models of telework will remain. But the most important benefit of this sudden global shift to telecommuting is its positive impact on the environment. With all these cuts, you may be wondering where all this business is going. According to Canadian Interiors, more than 10 million tons of eco-friendly furniture waste ends up in landfills each year in Canada and the United States. And in 2021, after a series of surveys about how our employees want to work in the future, we decided to move to a “distributed workforce” strategy. Whether it’s a painless change or a change that has social significance, it’s important to define your goals in advance and make a plan to achieve them. Remote work is better for the planet, right? Whether you downsize or leave the office altogether, you can be a boon to the environment if you do it right.