Nine out of ten people make more effort to reduce energy usage in the home than they do in the office, according to a survey from EDF Energy.

Nine out of ten people make more effort to reduce energy usage in the home than they do in the office, according to a survey from EDF Energy.

The research among 3,000 white-collar workers found that 77 per cent of professionals make a concerted effort to save energy consumption in the home, but more than half (55 per cent) admit to making no effort in the workplace.

This is despite the fact that 81 per cent of employees prefer working in a company with a good reputation for environmental responsibility, according to a separate poll conducted by Ipsos Mori in 2007.

The EDF survey reveals that top offences of environmentally unfriendly workers include not turning off the air conditionining (81 per cent), forgetting to switch off the photocopier (76 per cent), leaving lights and computers on in meeting rooms (70 and 84 per cent respectively) and not shutting down printers (64 per cent).

Julie Allen, energy efficiency manager at EDF, suggests, ‘To tackle the issue of environmental apathy in the workplace, businesses should work with their employees to create and implement a carbon reduction strategy.’