Simple Practices to Make Your Business Greener
A 2019 sustainability report by Toluna found that 37% of consumers are willing to pay up to 5% extra for environmentally friendly products, according to the Environmental Leader. Whether you own a coffee shop or manage a real estate firm, incorporating eco-friendly practices in your business can boost your bottom line and overall success in the long term. That’s because today’s consumers are more environmentally conscious and willing to support green companies.
Individual efforts to repurpose items and enhance energy efficiency can make a difference for the environment. However, a more significant impact is experienced when businesses implement eco-friendly techniques, such as getting a hybrid vehicle. If you’re looking to grow an environmentally-friendly venture, below are simple practices to make your business greener.
Make Your Workplace Energy-Efficient
Besides reducing your carbon footprint, becoming energy efficient can help reduce your company’s energy bill. To achieve the best outcomes, consider investing in energy-efficient office appliances. You may also want to switch to LED bulbs, use smart energy and water meters, opt for laptops instead of desktop computers, and automate your lighting system with sensors. These upgrades are easy to do, and some of these solutions are also quite affordable and offer numerous benefits. For example, installing smart energy meters helps you track energy consumption in real-time. That way, you can detect when energy usage is too high and make the necessary changes.
Opt for Sustainable Products
Printing paper, cleaning products, and toner cartridges are all considered essentials in the workplace. However, they can be harmful to our natural surroundings due to the methods used to process them. For instance, relying on printing paper means cutting more trees and encouraging the use of toxic chemicals to process paper. To reduce your company’s carbon footprint, environmentalists recommend choosing sustainable office supplies and sending PDF files via email instead of giving out paper handouts. Storing files in the cloud, using recycled tissue paper, and avoiding single-use plastics can also make your workplace more environmentally friendly.
Meanwhile, when it comes to cleaning products, buy chemical-free detergents and cleansers to prevent toxins from circulating in the office. Most importantly, if your office needs to be deep cleaned, hire green commercial cleaners to sustainably clean and disinfect your business premises. As the name suggests, green cleaning service providers use non-toxic cleaning products to reduce air pollution indoors. They also use reusable dust and wet mops, biodegradable trash bags, and reusable microfiber rags. By doing so, green cleaners help your business keep harmful ingredients out of water sources and landfills.
Encourage Recycling Practices
Recycling is one of the simplest ways to make your business greener. All you need to do is identify office items you can recycle like cardboard, plastic bottles, ink cartridges, bubble wrap, notebooks, pens, markers, and newspapers. Then, place recycling bins in areas like breakout rooms and cafeterias where there is heavy traffic flow. Introducing a simple recycling scheme in the office will increase the level of employee participation, making your company eco-friendly. Making your business more eco-friendly comes with numerous perks, such as increased sales, cost savings, and consumer trust. With this in mind, consider investing in smart energy-efficient technology, encourage recycling, and use sustainable products. Other ways to make your business green include going paperless and choosing green vendors.
