4 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips

*Today’s post was made possible by EcoKind, and features gifted product for the purposes of a candid review. All opinions are my own.

I have a confession to make…my home office really hasn’t been very eco-friendly over the years. Like a lot of design-smitten gals, I’m guilty of collecting trendy single-use plastic items for the shelves in my office and my desk—things like cute pencil cups and gold-rimmed file boxes. I also know that I wasted a lot of paper and ink from my printer when I should have been going more digital (or, at the very least, recycling instead of throwing away outdated printouts). When I think back on how much decor and paper I’ve gone through during the past 13 years of my business, I’m pretty ashamed, but I realized this year that it’s never too late to make changes.

I wasn’t super sure how to turn things around until I was introduced to a new brand, U Style Ecokind. They happened to reach out to me earlier this year about putting together a video on how to add more sustainability to the typical everyday office space, which, of course, was perfect timing since I had been hoping to do exactly that since the new year kicked off.

My experience working with the Ecokind team taught me that we can all prioritize sustainability and design in our office spaces without having to flip all of our old routines on their heads. There’s no need to scrap everything and start over with your office supplies or decor. That defeats the purpose, right? Instead, make simple swaps when the time comes to make a few upgrades, and choose long-lasting pieces that are made from already recycled materials, if you can.

Doing this myself over the summer made my office feel so much fresher and more functional, too. Find more of my sustainability tips below (including links to some of my favorite Ecokind products), and see my updated home office tour in photos throughout the post!

4 Sustainable Home Office Styling Tips:

1. Try to be as plastic-free as possible when choosing new office accessories for your desktop. Instead, opt for materials like wood, fabric, and paper made from sustainably managed forests. I show lots of my favorite eco-friendly accessories in the video, so make sure you watch it here, but my two personal favorite pieces are the wooden stapler and tape dispenser, which I see myself having forever and just refilling as needed. The wood grain adds such a cool touch to my desktop, I think!

2. For those select plastic supplies that you just have to have, do your best to prioritize certified recycled items. The Ecokind document organizer that I have on my office bookcase now is actually made with 100% Recycled Ocean Bound Plastic, and that’s not the only piece in their collection that boasts that fact. There’s also a sleek blue mail organizer to try in case you’re low on drawer space, and a desktop organizer, too.

3. Use desk accessories made of sustainably sourced cork. The cork wall tile bulletin board that I put up by my desk is my favorite spot now to display photos, quotes, and paint chips for upcoming house projects, and the cork desktop organizer that I picked out from the collection is such a handy spot for pens and notepads. Don’t forget that cork is a renewable resource and totally biodegradable, so it’s something you can have guilt-free in your office.

4. Here’s my favorite tip of all: create a designated paper recycling zone in your office so you can stop throwing away perfectly good paper! To establish this new routine, I added a reusable box (the one I use is made from recycled nylon and plastic) to the bookshelf in my office that I throw used paper into throughout the month. When it’s full, I recycle the paper locally. Anything with sensitive information is taken to a shredding company that recycles their paper for safe, sustainable disposal.

I know I’m ultimately encouraging you to order more new things for your office, which may sound counterintuitive, but the goal is that you purchase these things once and keep them for the long haul. One of the main takeaways that I hope you get from this post is that it’s okay to buy new things occasionally for your office space—just go about it more thoughtfully and intentionally than you may have in the past. Look for designs that are maybe a little simpler in style so you won’t get sick of them after a few years, and prioritize pieces that are already made from recycled plastics and paper. Thankfully, that’s so much easier to do these days since everyone seems to be on a sustainability kick, so treat yourself to something special for your office that you can feel good about!

I’m particularly excited to have worked with Ecokind this year since the brand supports reforestation with OneTreePlanted, and uses recycled materials to manufacture their gorgeous line of stylish office supplies. You buy, they plant—every single time! Oh, and did I mention that it’s all available for purchase in person at select CVS® stores or online at CVS.com®? It couldn’t be more convenient or easier to stock up. Now, since I know I’ve only scratched the surface of ways to make an office more sustainable, please leave your own shopping and organizing tips in the comments so we can learn from you and your good habits.

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission when you purchase products that I recommend at no additional cost to you. This allows me to provide free creative content for you to read, save, and share. Rest assured that I never recommend products we wouldn’t use or don’t already love ourselves.