Make Your Business Greener by Following These 9 Tips

Creating an eco-friendlier setting in your company’s work environment can go a long way toward helping the planet. Making certain modifications to how you run your business will help reduce the amount of waste that your company produces and benefit the environment in other ways. Here are some ideas for running a greener business that you can try following.

Recycle

Recycling goes beyond just bottles and cans. In addition to having recycling bins set up in your breakroom for bottles and cans, you can supply recycling bins for your employees that can be used to discard paper used for documents, old reports and unneeded receipts. According to Recycle Nation, other paper products that can be recycled include sticky notes, file folders and non-glossy business cards. Paper that is dirty, shredded or coated in wax, plastic or foil cannot be recycled. You and your staff should be recycling old printer and copier toner cartridges as well.

Reduce Paper Use

Along with recycling as much paper as possible, you can help the environment more by reducing the amount of paper that your company uses. By putting in the effort to go paperless as much as possible, your business can help save trees and reduce discarded paper that may end up in landfills. Limiting paper use is also a good way to save your business money. Some of the best ways to decrease paper use include downloading documents to the cloud, switching to digital receipts and scanning documents instead of copying them in physical form. Using e-signatures may also be beneficial.

Switch to LED Lighting

Light emitting diode (LED) lights are known to conserve energy. They require less power to run than other types of bulbs and can still provide enough lighting throughout your work setting for everyone to see clearly. As Inc.comstates, LED bulbs also don’t contain mercury and other toxic gasses that are found in fluorescent and incandescent lights. Plus, LEDs can last up to five times longer than other bulbs, which can save you the time and expense of having to replace your bulbs as often.

Choose Green Vendors

By doing business with other companies that are known for their environmentally friendly practices, you’ll further be contributing to making the planet a better place. It’s best to choose vendors that are committed to conserving energy and reducing waste. You can even look into how these vendors manufacture products to see if they make the right efforts to reduce their carbon footprints.

Clean with Green Cleaning Products

Using cleaning products that don’t contain chemicals and other toxins that can be detrimental to the environment will be another step in the right direction. Eco-friendly cleaning products are often made with pine oil, peppermint oil and other natural ingredients that can deliver all the cleaning power that you need. Many of the best green cleaning products also contain biodegradable ingredients. Recyclable containers are additionally used with many of these products. However, as Mercola.com explains, you should still read the labels of any cleaning products that are used to make sure they don’t contain some potentially harmful chemicals. If you hire professional cleaners, it’s best to choose a company that’s committed to using green cleaning products.

Consider Donating

Instead of throwing away old office equipment, you should consider donating it if it still has some use left. These items can go to families in need or other businesses that are running on tighter budgets. Even if you think that some of your old office equipment is completely dilapidated, someone else might be able to refurbish certain items and either keep them for themselves or sell them for a profit. Old computers, printers and other equipment pieces may contain harmful parts and chemicals that can be bad for the environment if they’re discarded. Donating your old office equipment is also a good way to drum up some positive publicity for your business.

Conduct Fewer In-Person Meetings

Meeting face to face isn’t as necessary today thanks to modern technology. This saves you and your employees from having to travel as much to meetings or your clients or other business colleagues from having to travel to meet with you, which can help reduce the amount of air pollutants that are emitted from transportation. Video conferencing programs allow for meetings to be conducted through computer screens. There is also the option of conducting meetings over the phone via teleconferencing.

Turn Off Electronics When Not in Use

As much as you may try to shut off any electronic items that you’re not currently using, some equipment could still be running without you knowing. Keeping this equipment running all the time even when it’s not in use can waste energy as well as your company’s money. You should instruct your staff to switch off their computers and other electronic office items when they’re not being used. SmallBizTrends.com suggests enabling sleep mode on certain devices so that they turn off automatically when not in use.

Pay Attention to Your Thermostat

Your thermostat might be heating or cooling the inside of your business more than what’s required, which can drain more of the planet’s valuable resources and cut into your company’s budget. By increasing or decreasing the thermostat temperature setting by just a few degrees, you can decrease energy use significantly. A smart thermostat is able to adjust itself to suit your company’s work habits automatically, and getting one of these thermostats will likely prove to be an excellent investment.

You can do a lot of good for your company and the planet by adopting greener work habits and committing to eco-friendly policies. Being more environmentally responsible can also set a good example for other businesses to follow.