The environment has seen better days. Between littering, pollution, and climate change, there’s a lot to worry about, and meaningful, large scale change will take time. This leaves businesses and individuals looking for ways to make an impact for the better. However, improving your impact on the environment will generally entail a degree of sacrifice. These tips will help you improve the environment without putting yourself at risk.

Switching To Solar

One of the more popular green initiatives among businesses is switching to solar power. The main draw of solar power is that it is more cost effective in the long run, meaning that it minimizes the level of sacrifice required to get results. There are a few issues that complicate this, however. First and foremost, there’s the installation process. Installing solar panels is fairly cost effective, but it can also become incredibly costly on a dime. For starters, solar panels aren’t very efficient. In fact, they are the least efficient energy option on the table right now, although this is changing, due in large part for the viability of solar power as a product. What this means is that you’ll need a solar power battery and more than one panel if you want to make sure that your business has the power it needs around the clock, and batteries tend to be substantially more costly than the panels themselves. It’s also important to note that solar panels are almost always installed high off the ground for maximum exposure to sunlight, and that introduces an element of danger to the installation proceedings. Consider calling your Las Vegas personal injury lawyer in order to get an idea of what could go wrong and, more importantly, what you can do to protect yourself from legal responsibility if something should go wrong.

Ditching Plastic

Plastic is comparable to radiation when it comes to the effect that each has on the environment. Like radioactive fallout, plastic can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, and yet it makes an appearance in a wide variety of products that are designed from the ground up to become waste. Many disposable products are made of plastic, up to and including plastic wrap, the practical necessity of which varies tremendously from product to product. Reducing this plastic waste is the single most important way to combat the litter problem for that very reason. Doing so within your own business model can be accomplished in a few key ways, and the ramifications for your company can vary just as much.

For example, you cease offering disposable, plastic grocery bags at your retail store. This method will ultimately save you a small amount of money otherwise spent on those bags, and you can even turn that into a profit by offering reusable alternatives to customers, However, this kind of initiative might ruffle some feathers, so you’ll need to make your case for it in a convincing fashion in order to avoid public backlash. In most cases, green initiatives will have a positive effect on a company’s reputation, but this is an exception to that rule, because people simply don’t like unexpected costs.

Tax Deductions

Another crucial matter you need to tend to is taking advantage of tax write offs. Green initiatives can initially be quite costly, but they also constitute business expenses that can be used as exemptions and deductions when it comes time to file your taxes. Consult a tax attorney when you’re planning a green initiative, and they can help guide you through the process of deducting expenses. While the premise is fairly straightforward, it can be more difficult to determine what is or is not a valid deduction, so it can’t hurt to seek help from a trained professional.

Saving the environment will ultimately take the concerted efforts of those in power, but there are still things that can be done by individuals and businesses of all shapes and sizes to mitigate further damage. These tips will help you get started without damaging your bottom line.