Tag Archives: Environment

7 Great Ways To Cultivate A Work Environment That Embodies Positivity

It is proven that a positive workplace encourages staff productivity and retention. Here are some tips from trainer and keynote speaker on workplace wellbeing Lee Chambers to how keep your workplace full of positivity.

 

  • Demonstrate gratitude.

Always looking for positive attributes in others is one way to bring out your own positive qualities. Gratitude can help you to see things in a different light. It helps you keep things in perspective and can build trust, respect, and mutual appreciation between people. So, start doing those random acts of kindness today.

  • Keep all messaging positive.

Words are powerful — never forget that. So, be sure to keep all your messaging positive. Communicate through a lens of optimism. You’ll soon see a big difference in the way recipients respond to your messages. Make your words, encouraging, passionate, authentic, and empowering for the biggest impact.

  • Be Thankful.

Start being thankful for things. Everyone craves recognition and to be appreciated for their contributions. Simply saying “Thank you” to a co-worker can go a long way. Try to make being thankful a daily habit — yet, be sure to always be genuine. No-ones appreciates false platitudes.  A quick thank you email is often all people need to stay positive.

  • Get excited about the small wins.

While it’s easy to get excited about reaching a major milestone, it’s important to remember to celebrate the small victories on route. Every time a goal is reached, someone took action, and it’s time to start recognizing that action. Overlooking little wins and robbing employees of well-deserved recognition for “behind-the-scenes” achievements isn’t going to contribute anything towards creating a positive work environment.

  • Smile.

Smiles are infectious, so keeping smiling even if you don’t feel particularly happy. Smile especially when you’re in a bad place. It’s a way to trick your mind into deciding to be happy. A smile with authentic roots is even more contagious. Even if company projections look like the end of the world, it’s important to maintain hope for the future. Everything can be turned around — smile because you know that.

  • Cultivate valuable relationships.

Building relationships is important. Fostering meaningful work relationships is crucial if you want to establish positivity in the workplace. Look for creative ways to relate to your colleagues. Out-of-hours social events can be an effective way to cultivate healthy relationships between co-workers, bosses, interns, and supervisors. Take steps to avoid succumbing to tunnel vision. To create the best work environment, you need to maintain valuable relationships with people at all authority levels.

  • Remain cognizant of your mission.

Your firm’s team mission is a big deal. Knowing the “why” behind what you’re trying to promote will make it easier to stay on task during the worst workdays. If everyone is walking in the shadows and is desperate for a stroke of authentic optimism or hope, take time to remind your team (and yourself) about the “why” behind maintaining a positive approach to the goings-on.

The importance of positivity in the workplace should never be underestimated. It is powerful as it can increase resilience and boost the coping abilities of employees. There will, of course, be days when it seems almost unfathomable to be able to promote positivity, but you need to start embodying the messages you are trying to promote. Commit to seeing the good in even the most difficult of situations — that is the whole point of positivity. Remember, if your own mindset is not strong, it will be hard to recruit others.

The Unexpected Environmental Consequences of the Cannabis Industry

As you probably know, the liberalization of laws on cannabis use has been speeding up in recent years. Towards the end of 2018, Canada’s administration took the momentous step of legalizing the recreational use of cannabis. Just a few months later, the US Congress voted in favor of the farm bill, thus legalizing medicinal cannabis across the country.

These two important events, in particular, caused the cannabis market to expand rapidly. Since then, people up and down the continent have been growing, purchasing, and using cannabis at unprecedented rates.

In light of this, a lot of attention has been directed at the potential consequences that this widespread adoption of cannabis can have on people.

For example, billboards across Canada have been erected warning people not to drive after smoking or eating cannabis. Meanwhile, policymakers in the US are paying close attention to medical research and using it to inform regulations on how medicinal cannabis can and can’t be used and sold.

However, it’s not just people that the cannabis industry can have consequences for – it’s the environment too. Unfortunately, far less attention has been directed towards this important topic.

Energy Consumption: A Cause For Concern

The biggest cause for environmental concern in this area relates to the cultivation of cannabis. Regulations and policies on cannabis cultivation in the US favor indoor operations, which is pushing many farmers to grow their cannabis plants indoors.

The problem with this is that cultivating cannabis indoors really isn’t all that energy efficient. According to a study by the International Cannabis Farmers Association, just half an acre of indoor cannabis production uses the same amount of energy as 298 households would use across a whole year.

The reason energy consumption is so high is that artificial lighting and heating is required to maintain the right climate for the plants to grow. If these farmers were to grow their plants using the sun’s light instead, operations would be much more energy efficient.

In fact, data shows that four season greenhouses use as much energy as 82 households, whereas greenhouses that rely on the sunlight use as much as just 15 households – that’s more than 5 times less.

Energy consumption is the driving force behind climate change, and reducing national energy use should be a key goal of all environmentally conscious nations. The US and Canada need to do more to address this pressing concern and encourage more sustainable farming practices if they want to meet the energy consumption targets set by the Paris Accords.

The Impact of Cannabis on Fresh Water Supplies

The effects of the cannabis industry on the environment extends beyond energy consumption. Another area of concern is how it may affect our fresh water supplies. The problem is that all pharmaceuticals can potentially have a significant impact on the freshwater environment by contaminating bodies of water.

More governmental discussion is needed to ensure that this doesn’t become a problem, especially seeing ass North America’s lakes account for a huge portion of the world’s freshwater supplies, and millions of citizens are dependent on them for clean, safe drinking water.