Half of British workers demanding greener workplaces

The proportion of UK workers actively lobbying their employers for green workplace improvements has almost doubled in the past three years from 27 per cent in 2005 to 51 per cent today, according to a major new survey of more than 1,000 people.

The research from IT company Fujitsu Siemens Computers found that more than half of respondents stated that they regularly lobby their employer to embrace greener practices, while 80 per cent said that they are more "environmentally conscious" than they were a year ago.

Unlike previous studies into workplace attitudes to the environment, including a similar survey undertaken by Fujitsu Siemens in 2005, the research showed that workers are beginning to embrace the green best practices they follow at home in the workplace.

For example, almost three quarters of workers now turn their PCs off overnight, an increase of 14 per cent since 2005, and 82 per cent recycle paper, a rise of 20 per cent on 2005 levels.

Steve Kendall-Smith, UK managing director at Fujitsu Siemens Computers, said that firms could expect to face growing pressure from staff to invest in green workplace initiatives.

"Our research shows that the gap between how green we are at home and how green we are at work is certainly closing," he added. "We hope that the increased lobbying from this well-established group of Green Collar Workers can only help to continue to make many more UK businesses greener places to work in the future."