ExecutiveChronicles | Simple Ways Your Business Can Become More Eco-Friendly! | In your personal life, you may have already made a load of changes that have enabled you to live a greener and more sustainable lifestyle. But translating that across to your business can seem tricky. However, there are some easy ways that you can adapt your business and take an environmentally friendly approach. Here are some of the top simple ways you can become more eco-friendly and still keep your business on the road to success.
Get Rid Of Single-Use Plastic
One of the best things you can do for the planet is to get rid of as much single-use plastic within your business as possible. Making the change to recyclable hot food takeaway containers can have a massive impact on your carbon footprint and they still do the job just as well. You should also aim to try and stop the use of plastic cups at water dispensers. Try encouraging staff to bring their own refillable bottles and offer paper cups instead. Not only will this help keep the planet free of plastic, but it will also save you some money too! Using recyclable items in the workplace will also cut down on waste too, so see if you could switch to a more sustainable material.
Recycle More
Recycling is crucial in saving the planet as landfills can’t keep being filled up with things that didn’t need to be thrown away. Install recycling bins around your business so that staff and customers alike can help keep waste to a minimum. In businesses, electronic products are going to be commonplace, and you might not think they’re able to go anywhere but the bin. But, in reality, a lot of them can actually be recycled if taken to a specific treatment plant. These can help keep them out of the landfill and allows you to do your bit for the planet.
Become Energy Efficient
Energy is another thing that businesses can’t go without, but it doesn’t come without consequences for the environment. Firstly, make sure you’re with a green energy supplier so that you can be sure the energy you do use is from renewable sources. Secondly, you want to make sure that your business premise is draught-proof. This way when you do have your heating or air conditioning on, you know that it’s not going straight outside, wasting money and energy. Lightbulbs are easy to make eco-friendly as well. All you need to do is change them to LED or energy-saving ones to really make a difference. If you really want to go all out, you could get solar panels installed and be self-powered. Being energy efficient isn’t just good for the environment, it also helps you to save money.
Go Paperless
Gone are the days when everyone needed a paper receipt. Instead, people now favour emails and digital copies of documents so that they can keep them all in one safe place. Similarly, try to encourage staff to forgo printing and instead make use of digital screens. Although paper is easily recycled, it still takes a lot of energy to do so. This is why cutting down on the amount of recycling waste you have is important. You can even extend this to customers too by offering digital bills. When you have to use paper like in bathrooms, try going for sustainable ones made from bamboo instead of single-use paper towels.
Reduce The Commute
Daily commutes can have a big effect on your business’s carbon footprint, so why not try and get your employees to try alternative methods. You could offer them the chance to get discounted bicycles so that they can simply ride to work, cutting out the need for car travel. You could even allow employees to work from home part of the week, if possible, completely eliminating a commute. As a business, you could also start up a carpool so that people who live close by can ride in together. Not only will it free up the parking, but it will help cut down the number of cars on the road putting out carbon emissions.
Green Areas
As well as making changes to current operations, you should also look at the environment of your business itself. Take a walk around the outside premise and see how much greenery you can actually see. If everything is looking a little grey, why not plant some trees and shrubs so that you can bring some life into the area. It will be great for the natural wildlife and help boost the ecosystem too. You could also bring some plants indoors. Certain plants like snake plants have been shown to help increase the oxygen levels in a room, which helps with brain function. This is exactly what an office needs and it’s an easy way to keep the air fresh. This is particularly useful in the winter when you’ve got the heating on to stay warm, but the air feels stuffy. Having plants that produce lots of oxygen when inside means you won’t need to compromise on opening windows and doors, helping to cut down on energy waste.
Becoming an eco-friendly business isn’t all that difficult. It just takes a little planning and reassessing of your current operations. When you think about it, there are probably hundreds of easy ways that you could help reduce your carbon footprint without causing any disruption to your business. Try not to let yourself and staff fall into old habits once you make a change either. It can be hard to make a change when something is so ingrained but making sure every person is informed as to why you’re making the changes, they should be easy enough to implement. With a little work and persistence, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an eco-friendly business in no time.
