5 Sustainable Team Building Activities for a Greener Workplace
Written By AD&V®
ABOUT THE AUTHOR | AD&V® is dedicated to advanced and energy-efficient sustainable architecture & interior design that enhances people’s experience of the world and improves their lives.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO TALK ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AND MAKE IT A PART OF YOUR COMPANY'S CULTURE.
Through team-building activities, you can promote a culture of sustainability. From planting trees to participating in beach cleanups, there are a variety of sustainable team-building activities that can bring your team together while positively impacting the planet.
Whether you're looking to build camaraderie among your team, improve employee communication, or have a good time while doing good for the environment, these activities will inspire and motivate your team to leave this planet better than they found it.
1. TREE PLANTING
Tree planting is a fantastic sustainable team-building activity. Since trees are essential for reducing carbon dioxide levels and improving air quality, tree planting activities contribute to helping the environment while fostering collaboration. The more trees planted, the better the air quality for both humans and wildlife.
Tree planting team building activities encourage a sense of responsibility towards the environment, unite people, and contribute towards a greener and more sustainable future.
2. TRASH PICKUP
The trash that humans generate is detrimental to our environment since it pollutes and contributes to global warming. Thus, picking up trash as a sustainable team-building activity is an excellent way to promote environmental awareness and teamwork.
This activity involves getting your team together to collect litter and debris from a designated area. Team members can work together to strategize the most efficient way to collect trash and ensure that the area is left clean and tidy.
Trash pickups can be done in various settings, such as parks, beaches, or other public spaces. By incorporating trash pickup into your team-building activities, your team can create awareness, learn about waste reduction and responsible waste management, and have a positive impact on the environment. By leading with our example, we can encourage others to be more conscientious as well.
3. CLOTHES SWAP
Studies show that textile production is the world’s second most polluting industry, second only to the oil industry, accounting for approximately 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Doing an office clothes swap is a sustainable team-building activity that encourages team bonding while considering consumption habits and textile waste. In this activity, team members bring unwanted clothes and accessories from their wardrobes and swap them with others. It’s a fun way for the team to revamp their wardrobe for free while reducing waste!
For our office clothes swap, we added a community service component by assigning service time to the different categories of items. It’s a win-win! Team members revamp their wardrobes without spending a dime and commit to serving the community in exchange for the items they chose. 😊
4. RECYCLING COMPETITION
Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills, saves energy, and helps create jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries. This is one of the reasons why recycling competitions are among the best sustainable team-building activities.
A recycling competition involves dividing employees into teams and challenging them to collect and recycle as much waste as possible within a specified time frame. The amount of each team’s total recycled materials is measured, and the team with the most collected items wins.
By engaging in this activity, teams can build recycling habits and increase their combined impact to protect the environment.
5. LUNCH & LEARN SESSIONS
Lunch and Learn sessions have become a popular team-building activity in recent years. These sessions involve employees coming together during their lunch break to learn something new or brush up on existing skills.
With Lunch and Learns, you can invite companies or thought leaders who help organizations incorporate sustainability into the workplace to share their expertise on sustainable topics of your choosing. These topics can include climate change, waste management, sustainability goals, and much more.
Lunch and Learn sessions provide a valuable opportunity for employees to collectively learn about sustainable practices and implement them in their daily lives.
COLLABORATING FOR SUSTAINABILITY
It doesn't matter if you have a team of five or fifty. Sustainable team-building activities provide employees with a unique and meaningful experience, lead to a more positive workplace culture, and contribute to environmental sustainability efforts.
By integrating sustainable team-building activities into your workplace culture, you'll improve team bonding and engagement and create a stronger and more sustainable business.
FURTHER READING: 7 WAYS TO USE YOUR BUSINESS AS A FORCE FOR GOOD