Member Article

Encourage cycling to work for a greener business

Going greener and adopting sustainable business practices makes good business sense. Not only can businesses of all shapes, sizes and industries, make savings by significantly reducing costs on energy, equipment, air-conditioning and other facilities, but it also means they are seen in a more responsible light.

Encouraging staff to ditch the car or public transport in favour of greener methods of getting to and from work is one way to help make your company more eco-friendly. Motivating employees to cycle to work can be a fantastic way to promote a more environmentally-friendly company and a healthy, productive and happy workforce.

Hadyn Luke, Contract Manager at CMS Fitness Courses (CMSFitness), explores some of the ways you can make your business greener by encouraging staff to cycle to work.

Inform staff of the health benefits of cycling

There are many benefits associated with regular cycling, including having a positive effect on mental health, losing weight, improving fitness levels, reducing stress and increasing energy levels. As the NHS informs, cycling is a low-impact activity and is therefore much easier on the joints than the likes of running and other high-impact aerobic exercise.

Whether it’s cycling in a gym or riding a bike on the roads, cycling is an effective and fun way to burn calories and tone the legs and bottom, as well as working the upper body, meaning regular cyclists are both fitter and toner.

Money-saving incentives

Asides being a great form of exercise, cycling is a mode of transport and as soon as the initial investment of the bike has been made, it is essentially free.

You can therefore encourage staff to cycle to work by reminding them of the money-saving benefits of cycling. They may currently drive to work, catch a train or jump on a bus, all of which cost money. By contrast, cycling to work is free.

In fact if you really want to show to staff how much money they can save by cycling to work, get them to use the Cycle To Work Calculator, so they can work out exactly how much they will save!

Reduce carbon footprint

It’s not just companies that are striving to go greener and be kinder to the environment, it’s many individuals too!

Instead of relying on vehicles that pump harmful carbon emissions into the atmosphere to get to work, cycling creates no emissions at all, meaning those who regularly use a bike to get to and from work can have peace of mind that they’re going their bit for the environment.

Facilitate cycling to work

Of course if you’re promoting cycling to work there should ideally be somewhere on the premises for staff to leave their bikes securely. Furthermore, having showers on-site and somewhere to change and leave cycling gear securely will also make the prospect of getting to work on a bike more attractive, after all nobody wants to sit in an office dripping in sweat! Whilst not essential for the cycling commuting community, cycling facilities such as bike sheds and showers will make it a much more tempting prospect.

Have a Cycle to Work Day

Convincing colleagues to cycle to work once might be enough to show them what they’re missing and encourage it in the long-term. One way to do this is to have a Cycle to Work Day.

The official national Cycle to Work Day is 14th September, with the aim of getting businesses to highlight the benefits of cycling to work to staff.

However, that’s not to stop your company from hosting a Cycle to Work Day when it wants, together with incentives and even prizes!

With these benefits in mind, you’ll have plenty of ammunition under your belt to try and motivate colleagues to ditch the car keys for the bike handles and help your company become a greener, more sustainable business.

This blog post was written by Hadyn Luke, Contract Manager for CMS Fitness Courses (CMSFitness). CMSFitness are specialists in delivering internationally recognised health and fitness industry qualifications to young people and adults across Yorkshire, Humberside and the North of England.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by CMS Fitness Courses .