Make practical choices with shared resources

For employees and local champions looking for everyday ways to use energy, water, and materials thoughtfully at work.

This fictional Northstar Works example brings together everyday practices, local facilities coordination, small team experiments, and ways to learn from results. Building systems and local guidance differ, so coordinate changes to equipment or shared spaces with the appropriate local facilities role.

Open-plan office floor with desks and meeting pods

Start with a practical choice

Choose an action that fits your task and the guidance for your workplace.

Energy: follow shared-room guidance

When finished with a shared room, follow its posted equipment instructions and leave controls as the local facilities team specifies.

  • Check the room’s posted guidance before changing settings.
  • Report equipment that appears to be running unexpectedly.

Water: report a repeated observation

If you notice a persistent drip or a fixture that does not appear to shut off, note the location and pass the observation to the local facilities team.

  • Include the room or area and when you noticed it.
  • Do not attempt repairs outside your role.

Materials: use the right amount

For routine work, choose the smallest practical quantity of supplies that still meets the task and any approved work requirements.

  • Use existing supplies before opening a new pack when suitable.
  • Keep required records and copies in the format your work requires.
From everyday choice to local coordination

Adapt practices to the workplace

A useful decision in context

A small example of matching a materials choice to the actual work.

A person packing a cardboard parcel at a worktable
Worked example

Reuse a shipping carton only when it fits the next shipment

A Northstar Works dispatch team has an unused carton from an incoming delivery. Before reusing it, the team checks whether it is clean, intact, and suitable for the next shipment’s contents and handling requirements. If any of those conditions is uncertain, they use the approved packaging for that shipment instead.

  • Check the carton’s condition and suitability for the intended use.
  • Keep any required labels or records accurate for the new shipment.