by Bright Ewuru | Sep 10, 2025 | Articles
Employee recognition can extend beyond appreciating employees for their efforts. Building sustainability into your employee recognition programs is a powerful way to celebrate your employees and invest in the planet.
And this is crucial because 2025 has seen a surge in environmental awareness, courtesy of visible climate impacts, generational pressure, technological advancements and cultural shifts.
Offering prizes that give back to the environment is a solid way to make your employee recognition and awards programs environmentally friendly. Let’s discuss some eco-friendly ideas for rewarding and appreciating your employees in 2025.
Carbon-offset gifts are excellent eco-friendly ideas for rewarding your employees for their contributions. While many physical rewards leave a carbon footprint, tangible carbon-offset gifts compensate for emissions created elsewhere. They can reflect your company’s commitment to sustainability and signal that recognition, though personalised, can be bigger than the individual.
Reusable, branded items, such as bamboo cutlery sets, notebooks made from carbon-neutral paper and stainless steel water bottles can be reused daily, reducing waste.
Gifts made from biodegradable materials—think organic cotton tote bags and cork mouse pads—are fantastic options. They’re practical and decompose naturally, leaving little to no long-term waste.
Consider desk-friendly plants and tree-growing kits. The plants can brighten up the employee’s workspace and purify the air, while the tree-growing kits can be planted by the employee in their location of choice.
You can skip material gifts and celebrate your employees by implementing reward ideas that support their wellbeing, the local community and the planet. Providing sustainable local and wellness experiences emphasises employee wellbeing and creates lasting memories. It supports the local economy and aligns with your sustainability values.
Treating team members to eco-conscious local restaurants is also a popular option. Consider sponsoring day trips that involve guided hikes in nature or giving access to mindfulness retreats in natural reserves.
To build a sustainable employee recognition program in 2025, it’s ideal to incorporate digital awards.
A digital award is a credential designed, issued and displayed in digital formats to recognise achievements. This includes digital certificates, virtual trophies, digital media kits and digital badges—used by 45% of Fortune 500 companies for employee recognition.
Living online, digital awards are easy to share and authenticate. But they offer more benefits to our planet. Digital awards eliminate resource extraction, manufacturing and waste because they don’t require physical materials. They can be delivered and shared instantly via email or apps, preventing carbon emissions that occur during the transportation of traditional physical awards.
Learn how to easily create digital badges and certificates with Award Force.
You can reward your employees by giving them access to resources that offer practical knowledge on eco-friendly practices. Empowering them with insight and skills for energy efficiency, waste reduction and environmental preservation positions them as change agents, making them more dedicated to the cause and your organisation.
It multiplies your organisation’s positive environmental impact by nurturing a culture of responsibility; those who learn about sustainability can influence their colleagues. This can make sustainability a real, shared commitment in your company.High-impact sustainability-related learning opportunities worth providing could include:
Transform employee recognition into action with sustainable volunteering opportunities Volunteer opportunities can empower your employees to leave a lasting legacy by participating in activities that regenerate and restore our planet.
To effectively design environment-friendly volunteering opportunities as employee rewards, it’s helpful to collaborate with local or international organisations focusing on visible projects with lasting impact. Flexibility matters; allow your employees to choose from a variety of volunteering opportunities. Include remote opportunities and permit flexible scheduling.
Be sure to frame this opportunity as a recognition and privilege granted in appreciation—this will shift the experience from obligation to honour and strengthen emotional engagement. Consider structuring the opportunities in a way that high performers can unlock special volunteering opportunities, like leadership roles and international sustainability initiatives.
Weaving sustainability into employee recognition celebrates your employees and nourishes the Earth. Adopting these ideas in 2025 will express your gratitude and contribute to a greener future.
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