Making Your Business More Eco-Friendly

Everyone has a moral and social obligation to take care of the environment around them. While the average citizen may not be able to make much of an impact, businesses both small and large have a further environmental reach. Making strides toward sustainability doesn’t always have to come with giant changes. Sometimes, the little swaps can make all the difference. With the following three ideas, you can help your business move toward being more eco-friendly.

Look For Green Power Solutions

The first thing you can do to make your business more sustainable is look for green power solutions. Traditional electricity and heating have a great environmental cost, from the usage of fossil fuels to the heat offput from electricity farms. While your business may not be using a lot of electricity to run on its own, the overall toll from your company, the distribution process, and customer service can quickly add up. Looking for a renewable energy solution such as solar panels or a local hydroelectric grid can help reduce your business’s carbon footprint.

If you don’t have the means to pursue renewable energy, there are still things you can do to reduce your electricity output. Simple routine changes like installing smart lights and utilizing natural light in your building can both save you money on your energy bill and help your company go green. Additionally, little things like turning lights off in unoccupied rooms rather than having lights on a grid will reduce your power needs. By seeking out green energy, you can help your business improve its sustainability.

Recycle At Work

The second way you can help your company reduce its carbon footprint is by recycling at work. One of the biggest contributions to landfills is paper and plastic-based waste. While single-use items like plastic forks or paper plates are convenient, they are deadly for the environment. Rather than providing supplies like that at work, consider encouraging your employees to bring their own reusable dishes or even keeping a few spare pieces of flatware at the office. Something as simple as your staff bringing their lunches in a glass container to heat up rather than putting them on a paper plate can quickly improve your overall sustainability.

Along similar lines, look into recycling opportunities for metal and paper waste. Things like soda cans and cardboard are often easily recyclable, and many communities have programs to collect and dispose of these materials. Putting a dedicated recycling bin in the break room of your office can help you not only keep the space tidy but also make strides toward a healthier environment. If you invest in recycling and reusable items, you can start helping your office become more eco-friendly.

Choose Paperless Transactions

The final simple substitution you can make around the office to improve your sustainability is choosing paperless transactions. Whether you’re a small coffee shop or a risk-assessment business, going electronic on as many transactions as possible can help reduce your paper waste and therefore reduce your carbon footprint. For instance, rather than handing out physical copies of receipts with every order, ask the customer if they’d like an email or text copy. Many will be fine with that or choose no receipt at all, helping you save paper. Along with bettering the environment, reducing your paper waste will also save your company money in turn.

Reducing paper waste doesn’t just happen in customer-facing instances. While that’s a large part of it, things like paper filing, physical payroll, and even paper towels around the premises all contribute to paper waste. By limiting or even eliminating these items and moving your records to digital options, you can help your business move into a more modern era while simultaneously caring for your environment. Simple substitutions like offering digital receipts or filing online can help your business become more eco-friendly.

To sum things up, going green at work doesn’t always require massive and expensive changes. More often than not, it’s simple substitutions that make all the difference.