Many of us here in Eagle County have probably implemented sustainable practices in our homes, such as recycling or composting. But how often have you thought about incorporating some of these home habits into your workplace?

Given that Eagle County is a rural community, it’s likely that commuting is necessary. People need to think about how they get to and from work. Some ways to go green when using transit in Eagle County include CORE Transit (formerly ECO Transit), which is free from Eagle to Vail all summer long, Shift Bike, carpooling, or telecommuting where applicable.

Now that we’ve covered how to reduce emissions from transportation, we can move on to bringing sustainability into the workplace:

• Using a personal composter or having one in the kitchen or common area. If you or your company is interested in workplace composting Honeywagon Organics (970) 476-3511 or EverGreen Zero Waste (970) 930-7900 are local options that are great sources for all things compost. It is important to note that an appropriate container and carrier are required to enable on-site composting.
• Reducing the amount of paper you print and switching to email or implementing a completely paperless system, using digital documentation instead of physical documents, are great ways to reduce waste.
• Being an informed recycler and staying up to date on what Eagle County can and cannot recycle is essential to working toward sustainable business practices. If you are unsure about what can be recycled, you can use the Waste Wizard app, which was specifically designed for Eagle County to make it clear what can and cannot be recycled, or contact your local waste removal company. If you are interested in where our waste goes, private recycling tours for companies can be booked through the Walking Mountains website. It’s a great way to see where our waste goes and how it’s recycled.
• Energy conservation is a great tool to use in workplace sustainability. Using natural light and efficient lighting solutions like LED lighting use up to 90% less energy than traditional light bulbs, not to mention they last about 25 times longer than a typical bulb. Installing motion sensor lighting can also help minimize the amount of energy wasted by leaving a light on in an empty room or bathroom. Green energy is also a great way to practice sustainability in the workplace by implementing solar panels and energy-efficient appliances. Many locations in Eagle County receive their electricity from Holy Cross Energy, a rural electric cooperative that aims to provide its members with 100% clean energy by 2030. As of March 2024, Holy Cross is 76% renewable.
• To promote sustainability in the workplace, establishing a Green Team can be very beneficial to implementing more sustainable practices in the workplace.
• Walking Mountains offers sustainable business leadership programs where business owners can meet monthly with a sustainable business coach to implement sustainable action plans and become Walking Mountain’s Actively Green Sustainable Business Certification. Actively Green Sustainable Business Certification is simply a certification that a company can receive that implements sustainable business criteria to improve performance and sustainable leadership practices. If you or your company are interested in learning more about becoming certified, check out Walking Mountains website and list of companies with an active eco certificate.

All careers can be sustainable careers if people are educated about what sustainability looks like in the workplace. You don’t have to work in sustainability to make your workplace more sustainable.

Quinn Stewart is a Sustainability Intern at Walking Mountains