Office cowardice wastes 7.1 billion tonnes of CO2 a year

Fear of being ridiculed as a "jobsworth" is stopping many people from promoting energy-saving measures in the workplace, despite their support for such practices when they are at home.

That is the conclusion of a new report from energy giant E.ON which calculates that a widespread failure to take even basic energy-saving measures such as turning off PCs and lights when not in use results in £12.7bn and 7.1 billion tonnes of CO2 being wasted by office workers each year.

The report, which includes an ICM poll of 1,000 employees at small and medium-sized firms, found that 78 per cent fail to transfer energy-saving behaviour they embrace at home into the workplace.

More than half said they were afraid to ask their boss for permission to instigate such practices, while 55 per cent admitted that the absence of a financial incentive meant they were more profligate with their energy use at work than they are at home.

Furthermore, more than a quarter said they were unwilling to embrace green office measures for fear of being ridiculed by colleagues.

Dr Peter Clough, behavioural psychologist at Hull University, said that peer pressure was undermining many firms' attempts to promote greener practices in the workplace. "Employees are still reluctant to stand out in the workplace as environmentally conscious," he observed. "Within many companies a degree of bravado and desire to flaunt rules can see those abiding by sensible green policies labelled "jobsworths" or worse."

Firms committed to cutting energy use are advised to find ways to incentivise staff to embrace green measures, according to E.ON. "You need to attack all three areas stopping staff from turning off equipment," said a spokeswoman for the company. "But the key issue is incentivising people to act as this shows them the boss supports the measures and it helps change the culture because everyone knows there are benefits to acting."

She added that a number of incentive schemes have been trialled by the company and its customers, ranging from offering staff individual rewards for cutting their personal carbon to providing a staff party if energy-saving targets are hit.