Eco perks: ideas to sustainably engage employees

With 55% of UK-based employees concerned that their employer isn’t doing enough to tackle climate change, and 30% of the upcoming millennial group willing to change jobs if their current employer isn't sustainably-minded, demonstrating that your business cares about our planet is more important than ever. (Source: Pawprint commissioned research, 2021)

Below we’ve compiled a detailed list of eco perks and benefits, which you can use to align employee engagement with your sustainability strategy—good for employees, good for business, good for the planet. That’s living the ‘people, planet, profit’ promise if we ever saw it.

Pawprint's favourite eco perks

Cost	What	About perk/benefit	Benefit (employee)	Benefit (employer)	Supplier
£15 - £30 / month	Green energy at home	Encourage employees to switch to a renewable energy provider at home.	Lower energy bills Reduced carbon footprint	Boosted engagement Reduced Scope 3	Big Clean Switch
~£10/plug	Smart plugs and collective demand reduction	Get employees involved in a virtual power plant through Equiwatt, to help reduce demand on the grid at peak times.	Rewards Lower energy bills Reduced carbon footprint	Boosted engagement Reduced Scope 3	Equiwatt
~£8/bulb	LED light bulbs	LEDs can be up to 10x more carbon efficient than older models. Slash your Scope 3 emissions by gifting better bulbs.	Lower energy bills Reduced carbon footprint	Boosted engagement Reduced Scope 3	/
Prices range, from affordable to premium	Weekly lunch	Instead of each employee heading to Pret for lunch, buy loose, seasonal produce and provide the facilities to make their own.	Reduced weekly costs Access to healthy food Time to bond with colleagues	Boosted engagement Team bonding Reduced waste	Feedr Karmacans
As much or as little as you like	Houseplant voucher	Gift plants that cleanse the air of household pollutants.	Improved air quality Boosted happiness	Improved productivity Boosted happiness	Patch
Project dependent	Donate to a carbon capture project on birthdays	You could protect peatland, invest in direct air capture or donate to pioneer projects—whatever permanently removes carbon from the atmosphere.	Reduced carbon footprint Boosted happiness and sense of belonging	Retain talent Stay competitive	Sourceful Climate Verra Gold Standard
Free	Make your pension matter	Ensure the company invests in a green pension and if there's the option (for example, with Nest) encourage employees to switch to the ethical fund.	Confidence that their money aligns with their morals	Pension aligns with company values Retain talent Stay competitive	Make My Money Matter
/	Time off to volunteer / protest	Yvon Chouinard has always had some pretty unconventional workplace policies, but giving his employees time off to protest (and paying bail if they are arrested) is one of the more compelling ones. You could also give employees time off to volunteer for an eco charity.	Improved relationship with employer Feels encouraged to bring whole self to work	Retain talent Boosted happiness	/
Minimum £5 donation per kit	A bee saver kit	Bees are under threat due to biodiversity loss and changing climate. Enabling your employees to make their green space more bee-friendly is a perfect thank you for hard work.	Encouragement to spend time in nature Boosted happiness/reduced climate anxiety	Boosted happiness	Friends of the Earth
£500 - £1000	E-bike conversion kit	Encourage employees to use pin-power by giving them access to an e-bike converter, which turns any bike into an electric bike.	Reduced stress Improved health Money savings	Reduced Scope 3 Improved employee health Remain competitive	Swytch Bike
Employee dependent	Additional annual leave for slow travel	Encourage employees to travel slowly (not by plane or car, unless the car is full) to holiday destinations by tagging on some additional annual leave for those who can prove they're doing it the low carbon way.	Reduced carbon footprint Additional annual leave Chance to see places they wouldn't have otherwise seen	Remain competitive Retain talent	Climate Perks
As much or as little as you like	Eco getaway voucher	Reconnect your employees with nature by giving them money towards an eco getaway.	Boosted happiness Encouragement to spend time in nature	Stay competitive Retain talent	Canopy and Stars Byway
As much or as little as you like	Discounted vegan/veggie food	Vitality offers rewards and discounts to members who buy healthy food. Steal this idea, get your employees eating healthily and reap the rewards of a brain fuelled by goodness.	Improved health Lower food bills Lower carbon footprint	Improved productivity Boosted happiness Retain talent	All Plants Farmdrop
Free	Option to take an extended lunch break	Reconnect employees with nature, and encourage them to exercise, by blocking out two hours at lunch for 'time outdoors'.	Reduced stress and improved mental health Better work/life balance	Improved productivity Boosted happiness Retain talent	/
Pricing based on no. of employees	Access to the Pawprint app	Empower employees to measure, understand and reduce their carbon footprint.	Better understanding of own impact and how to reduce it Empowered to engage with workplace sustainability	Reduction and sentiment data Accelerated climate intiatives Improved employee engagement Industry benchmarking	Pawprint
£150 - £415 per box	No Separation zero waste boxes	From crisp packets to soft plastics, Terracycle's zero waste boxes allow you to recycle the ‘non-recyclables’. Give employees access to these and both office and personal waste will shrink; it’s time to tidy up our planet!.	Reduced waste Reduced carbon footprint	Reduced waste Reduced carbon footprint Stay competitivet	Zero Waste Boxes

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Of course, this isn't an exhaustive list and we will continue to add to it as and when we hear of more great eco perks. Feel free to suggest one by emailing beth@pawprint.eco.