What do landfills and office buildings have in common? More than you think! Author, Lisa Whited helps us discover why reimagining workplace waste could unlock the next frontier of sustainable, high-performance work environments.
I want to take you to two places that might not seem connected at first: a landfill and an office.
They’re both full of things we no longer use. They’re both full of things we don’t know how to let go of. And they’re both the result of human decisions.
Here are a few facts that might surprise you:
- In 2019, offices sat empty 40–60% of the time.
- In 2018, U.S. buildings generated 22 million tons of CO₂ just heating and cooling unused commercial space – costing $3.36 billion.
- Commercial buildings account for 39% of global carbon emissions, through both energy use and construction.
But this isn’t just about carbon. It’s about a mindset.
Landfills generate methane – 84x more damaging to our planet than CO₂. Construction debris, discarded furniture, and outdated workplace systems all contribute. We design, we consume, we hold onto things, and then – when they no longer serve us – we discard them or let them sit unused.
Sound familiar?
When I look at underutilized offices, I don’t just see wasted space – I see a system that doesn’t know how to adapt.
In the workplace, we don’t bury our waste under dirt – we bury it under habit, routine, and resistance to change.
Empty desks. Unused floors. Energy pumped into vacant space. These are the office’s version of a landfill. They are the result of decisions: decisions about how we work, where we work, and what we refuse to rethink.
But waste doesn’t have to be the end of the story.
Let me take you somewhere completely different: The Istanbul Airport
In 2023, during a layover on my way back from speaking at the first-ever WorkGreen Conclave in Bangalore, I witnessed something remarkable. Artist DENİZ SAĞDIÇ had taken airport waste – plastic, packaging, paper – and transformed it into powerful artwork, turning refuse into revelation. Travelers stopped. They looked. They saw the possibilities of transformation.
We don’t have a space problem – we have a mindset problem. We see waste where we should see opportunity. We treat empty desks and half-full buildings as failures, instead of asking: What could this become?
Yes, people are often reluctant to share desks. (“I don’t share my toothbrush, my pillow, or my phone – why would I share my desk?”) But we already share restaurant tables, plane seats, gym equipment, and library books. And in truth, most white-collar work today requires a variety of settings – not a single assigned desk.
The issue isn’t sharing – it’s shifting perspective
As Paul Hawken reminds us, “The way out is not top-down. Nature is not a top-down system.”
That’s why I believe the transformation we need must begin from within our organizations, by engaging employees to reimagine what work can be.
Work isn’t a place. It’s a system of decisions. And like the landfill, our offices are filled with choices we’ve made – and forgotten.
But like the art at the iGA Istanbul Airport, we can choose to see waste as wonder.
We can design spaces that help people thrive. We can reduce our impact on the planet. We can create workplaces that reflect our values – not just our routines.