New Zero Waste Accreditation for Zero Waste Coworking Offices

In Fujimi town, Nagano Prefecture, there is a comfortable coworking space under the name Fujimi Mori-No-Office located at the base of Yatsugatake Mountains. Since December 2015, the wooden complex building has attracted city workers looking for a peaceful place to pursue their remote work and locals who want to use the facility as a community center. And they have begun certification procedures as a Zero Waste office.

RouteDesign LLC, which operates the coworking space, has teamed up with Zero Waste Japan, which is launching a new Zero Waste accreditation. Up until now, Zero Waste Japan specialized in creating opportunities to practice zero waste with stakeholders in both the government and the private sector. It aims to support their shifts to reduce waste and recycle resources. Zero Waste Japan has already put forth the ZWJ Fashion and ZWJ Food accreditation services. Now, they have started an accreditation service for office operators to evaluate waste reduction in coworking spaces and shared offices.

Because let’s face it. For most business people, the office is where they spend most of their time throughout the day. Of course, it is important for businesses to transform their entire supply chain along with large-scale investments in a sustainable way. Still, it’s meaningless if the consciousness and behavior of each employee gets left behind.

Since people spend most of their time in office space, the two organizations thought it valuable to reexamine it as a place where the consciousness of individuals and consciousness of businesses meet. They believed that changing the environment they work in is the utmost step for promoting a sustainable transformation. The goal of this initiative is to make the office—a starting point in which people interact with various people—a place for people to change their consciousness and behavior.

For example, at Fujimi Mori-No-Office, snacks are sold in the office by weight and drinks are served in reused bottles. Of course, waste is sorted and separated into divided categories. These introduce a zero waste consciousness that users eventually adopt beyond the office space.

The Zero Waste Accreditation will evaluate waste reduction efforts for coworking and shared offices under their rules. To obtain the certification, shared offices need to apply and be audited. If required, they can request training sessions on ZW Kitchen, ZW Space, and ZW Operation, and more.

There’s even a stayover training session where people get to see the case study of the “GREEN COMMUNITY” project put forth by Fujimi Mori-No-Office since its establishment. During the two-day training session, participants can experience the organization’s eco-friendly measures already implemented in the Fujimi Mori-No-Office and learn ways to install them in existing services and on-site operations to switch to a sustainable office management. Participants get to stay in the accommodation facility “Mori-No-Office Living” attached to the Fujimi Mori-No-Office as well, which is another treat they can look forward to.