How to Make Your Business More Eco-Friendly

 

There are many ways we can each take small steps towards a greener planet, and while we may all be doing our bit in our personal lives, business owners should also be considering ways they can lower their own carbon footprint and those of their employees. Regardless of how small your business may be, your choices can make a dramatic impact on the environment as a whole.

Making the decision to 'go green' is beneficial to the environment and may also improve your company's reputation and generate greater customer interest and trust in your brand. In this guide, we’re going to take a look at some of the key ways you can make your business more eco-friendly:

Think about transport

Encouraging employees to consider their transport options to get to work would be a great place to start. Cycling (as opposed to driving) offers an array of health benefits, including improved heart health and cognitive function and even enhanced sleep quality. Another option would be to encourage employees to begin a carpool if they live near one another. Offering rewards for making greener transport choices is a fantastic starting point to stimulate a much greener workplace.

Set up a ‘green team’

Setting up ‘green ambassadors’ is a great way to come up with new ideas for making your business a much greener place to be. Empowering staff to think about their choices and how they can make a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint will make a significant difference to how day-to-day aspects are managed. If your business consists of several departments, it would be worth hiring a spokesperson for each to consider green alternatives for eco-friendly working. In marketing, for example, it could be as simple as purchasing Eco friendly expo banners and promotional products from Redbows.

Recycle

Installing recycling bins around the office environment will ensure that waste, including plastic, paper and cardboard, is separated accordingly. Waste is often mixed in regular trash cans and ends up on landfill; however, designated bins are a simple yet effective way to ensure recycled materials. Since many households are already getting into this habit, it should be a matter of natural instinct when employees use them.

Go paperless

As we’re now in the age of technology, many businesses have now decided to go paperless. A great deal of paper is used in our day-to-day lives and simply discarded at the end of the day, which can have a major impact on the environment due to deforestation. While paper can be recycled, why not go the extra mile by having a paperless business? This may mean becoming more familiar with Cloud Computing to share files between staff members and store documents online, and send email newsletters and receipts to customers instead of physical copies. Going paperless is not only a much quicker and convenient way to work but also saves you a great deal of cash in paper and printing, which could be better spent elsewhere.