When it comes to business, everyone has an opinion. Should you go big or stay small? Try and be your employee’s friend or stay detached? Buy biscuits for the breakroom? Use Times New Roman or Calibri? There are thousands of little decisions that leave people split down the middle but, if there’s one thing we can agree on, it’s the fact that there are no businesses on a dead planet. Luckily there are a few small, simple steps you can take as a business owner to make your business more environmentally friendly.
Here are five simple steps to help your business go green.
1. Reuse, reduce, recycle!
Make sure your business is environmentally conscious and that you have recycling bins in the office. Put up signs explaining correct recycling procedures such as breaking up boxes, rinsing recyclables and separating mixed materials.
Some other ways to promote good recycling practices involve making DIY notebooks out of unwanted documents. If someone if your office needs to print out long documents when they are finished with the documents they can be made into free notebooks. Just make sure to remove any pages featuring confidential information and follow these easy steps.
2. Go paperless
Sure, running a business is going to involve a certain amount of paperwork but as an eco-friendly business owner, it is easier than ever to keep things digital and paperless. From sending contracts and legal documents online to keeping your banking and invoices online, there are so many simple steps you can help make the move to paperless. For more specific tips about making the transition to a paperless office.
So not only are you saving the planet but you’re saving yourself the money you would have spent on costly ink cartridges and printers! A win-win!
3. Be a smart traveller
Every time you take a flight or drive a car you are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So, to cut down on your carbon footprint, start thinking of ways you could make environmentally conscious travel arrangements.
Some changes you could enact include:
- Limit the number of flights you take each year. Technology is such that many meetings you would have had to have flown inter-state or internationally to attend in the past can now easily take place over video conference.
- Encourage your employees to take public transport by offering to cover the cost of their commute.
- Suggest employee carpools. Set up group chats for employees that live near each other and suggest they drive in together or split the cost of a taxi.
- Have flexible working arrangements where employees are able to work from home occasionally, cutting out the commute entirely.
For more tips about how to make your commute kinder on the environment, check out this article.
4. Embrace plant power
Fill your office with plants! Not only is this an aesthetically pleasing choice that employees and clients will love but there are added benefits of having a plant-filled office. Plants produce oxygen and can absorb airborne chemicals thereby purifying the space and giving you a healthier workspace.
5. Cap consumption
Another incidence of saving money and the environment with one fell swoop, Call your energy provider and have them conduct a free energy audit to figure out where most of your electricity is being used. For some other great money saving tips click here! Consider unplugging appliances that are not in use or adjusting your office thermostat.