Another year has passed, which means another holiday season is upon us. It’s time for family gatherings, festive parties, and gift giving. Although it’s the most wonderful time of the year, it can also be the most stressful. Trying to decide what presents to give your family and friends can be hard enough, but now people are exchanging gifts at work… which is fun, but also another thing to add to your to-do list during an already busy time of year.
Well, there’s no need to fret this holiday season. The Quench Water Experts put together a list of eco-friendly gifts for the workplace that would be great for any family member, friend, or coworker. They’re sustainable, trendy, and must-have office items!
Staying hydrated at work is a must. It helps improve your productivity, mood, memory, energy level, and clarity. But studies suggest that almost 80% of employees believe they don’t drink enough water at work. Don’t let that be your friend/coworker. Get them a reusable water bottle that they love, so they’ll be sure to carry it with them everywhere they go, including work. Reusable water bottles are also extremely eco-friendly as they eliminate the need for single-use plastic water bottles. It’s a win-win!
Just as water is a must-have at work, so is caffeine (for most people). Studies suggest that up to 90% of adults in North America consume a caffeinated product each day. Caffeine is a natural stimulant most commonly found in coffee and tea. It works by stimulating the brain and central nervous system, helping you stay alert and focused, and preventing the onset of tiredness. Chances are, most of your family, friends, and colleagues drink coffee and/or tea at work for this exact reason. So, why not get them a travel mug that they can use to and from the office each day!?
Many workplaces equip their offices with single-serve coffee and/or tea brewers. This allows employees to pick and choose their individual flavors, and they don’t need to worry about keeping the coffee pot warm all day. Some offices provide their employees with K-cups®, coffee pods, and/or tea bags, but others encourage their employees to bring their own. And even if the pods/bags are provided, they might not have the flavor you want so you may choose to bring your own anyway. Either way, gifting a family member, friend, or colleague with coffee and/or tea (depending on their preference) is a great idea because, as fore mentioned, they probably drink a lot of it! Unfortunately, K-cups are nonrecyclable and nonbiodegradable, so they’re not eco-friendly. But there are eco-friendly options out there including coffee pods and tea bags – and they’re just as delicious!
Some people prefer drinking their beverages out of a straw, especially when they are cold (like ice water) or hot (like coffee) to prevent discomfort due to teeth sensitivity. Coffee and tea also tend to be preferred sipped out of a straw to avoid staining your teeth. If someone you know prefers drinking their hot or cold beverages out of a straw, then reusable straws may be the perfect gift. It will prevent their single-use straws from ending up in the trash, and it’s a fun accessory as they come in many different styles and colors – how fun!?
If you’re drinking a cold beverage in a room temperature office, it’s sure to sweat. That’s because the water vapor in the warmer air turns into liquid water droplets on the colder glass (aka condensation). When that happens, it can leave a nasty water mark on furniture, especially wood furniture. To prevent this from happening, you should use a coaster. Since many office desks are wood, what better gift than an eco-friendly coaster? You can even customize them for an extra special touch!
As we reach a record amount of pollution on our planet, we each need to do our part to help save the environment that we all know and love. By giving an eco-friendly gift to your family, friends, and/or coworkers, you’re not only empowering them to use sustainable products in the workplace, you’re also showing them that living a sustainable lifestyle is important to you.
At Quench, enhancing the sustainability efforts of our customers is a core value of our service. We help our customers eliminate the use of bottled drinking water delivery services and the incumbent fossil fuel depletion, carbon emissions, and additional plastic waste by filtering a building’s existing water supply at the point-of-use (POU) via a bottleless water cooler.
In addition to making the businesses we work with eco-friendlier, we also incorporate sustainable environmental practices in our operations wherever possible. Quench continually seeks to improve product offerings and business practices to reduce our own environmental footprint. To learn more about how Quench ‘walks the walk’, check out our Environmental Sustainability Mission Statement.
Visit our website to view our products and see which one is right for your workplace. And show us how your company is becoming more sustainable on social media by following us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter using the hashtag #GoingGreen.