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Workers willing to work to make workplace greener

DUBAI — Workers in the UAE and other countries in the region want their workplace to be greener and are keen to be active in addressing global warming, according to a Middle East online poll about environmental issues in the workplace released yesterday.

The results of the poll of 1,500 people, conducted by popular Middle East job site Bayt.com during September, showed that workers in the region were keen to play their part in protecting the environment and many felt more could be done by their companies to ensure this happens.

When asked if offices should go ‘carbon neutral’, 49.6 per cent of respondents said, “Yes, it’s time we did more to address global warming.” But 36.5 per cent said they do not know what ‘carbon neutral’ (a term which refers to people or organisations offsetting their carbon emissions by taking positive action, such as investing in ecological initiatives) means.

Encouragingly, almost 42 per cent of respondents reported that their offices had gone ‘paper free’, while 18.8 per cent said they printed on both sides of the paper. Some 39.4 per cent stated that “there are piles of paper on my desk.”

Regulation of air conditioning was also a hot topic with 69.3 per cent of those polled believing that air conditioning usage should be regulated to save energy. Just 14.3 per cent of those polled believed that unless staff benefit from the money saved, they didn’t care.

“These results are generally encouraging, in that they show there is awareness in the workplace with regard to environmental issues,” said Rabea Ataya, CEO, Bayt.com. “On the other hand, the poll also indicated that awareness doesn’t always translate into concrete action.”