Conducting your business in an environmentally friendly way is seldom seen as a negative, and in a world of dwindling resources there is no time like the present to begin making a few changes to how we conduct business and run our offices. There are benefits and rewards to being part of a green business, for example BusinessGreen Leaders Awards and a variety of incentives to go-green which vary from city to city.
- Stop printing
It would be no easy task to stop printing altogether, but many businesses nowadays still print thousands upon thousands of documents every year that don’t get read, or that would have had exactly the same effect if sent as an email. Black and white printing costs a couple of pence per sheet of paper, and colour is even more expensive. You must take the size and purpose of your business into account before cutting down on printing, but, for example, a switch to emailing for a medium-sized company’s weekly newsletter could save it a significant amount of money each week.
- Ask somebody for assistance
There are several companies that aim to advice other businesses on matters of environment and sustainability. Organisations like AMEE – who specialise in supply chain risk management data and provide your business with information that could save you time and money, whilst reducing your carbon footprint at the same time.
- Recycle whatever you can
The phenomenon of recycling your waste has been the norm for many people for the last couple of decades, and companies recycling on a much larger scale than the average household would do wonders for the environment. It is not always the case that businesses don’t want to recycle; quite often they don’t have the means to due to the sheer amount of waste they produce. A way to tackle this is to have clearly marked recycling bins dotted around office spaces, etc. You may be pleasantly surprised to find how many employees will make a point of separating their cans from their newspaper when they go to dispose of them.
- Invest in motion-sensor taps
Water shortage and wastage is not only a significant environmental problem, but also an economic one. A single tap dripping water every second will have wasted 10,000 litres after a year. Just imagine how much water a couple of taps left on overnight could waste! We have all been known to leave taps on or not turn them off fully, and although it’s not possible to predict exactly how much money will be saved, I’d expect the new taps to have paid for themselves sooner than you may expect.
- Check your business’s appliances and machinery
If the business you are a part of has existed for over a decade, it is wise to check that everything that’s frequently used isn’t outdated and that the model you have is working properly. Failing to do this can be more costly than buying new models because of servicing charges and wasted energy.
Image source…
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winnersh_Meadows_Trees.jpg
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