Are you doing all you can do to flex your company’s eco-credentials? Regardless of whether you believe in global warming or not, going greener is a great way to reduce your costs. Here is an eight-step guide to reducing your business’s carbon footprint, and saving it a bit of cash at the same time.
Perform Regular Audits
You don’t have to go into too much detail here, but doing the occasional green audit will help you identify areas where power is being used unnecessarily. Lights left on in the store cupboard? Are usual suspects still leaving their computers on overnight? Is the heating turned up to ridiculous levels? Sort out all of these issues and you will be doing your bit to reduce your footprint and save a lot of money.
Switch Your Lighting
Tie to get rid of those incandescent light bulbs, if you still have them. Making the switch to CFL or LED lighting will cost a little more initially, but they will last a long, long time. Head over to Lightbulbs Direct and use their calculator to see how much you can save.
Recycle Everything
Does your business run a recycling policy? Many don’t – especially when they are in a shared premises. However, just because your rubbish is someone else’s problem, doesn’t mean you can’t make your staff aware they should be recycling.
Buy Recycled Everything
Every time you upgrade your office, there’s no need to spend a fortune on new equipment. Head to your local second-hand store or charity shop to see if you can get some good quality office furniture for a fraction of the price.
Look Into Green Web Hosts
There are plenty of eco-friendly web hosts out there that give an excellent service as well as taking care of the planet. They work by offsetting all the energy they use by planting trees and using renewable energy. Take a look at GreenWebHost.com for a good example.
Reduce Your Print Volume
If you are using a lot of paper, ink and power to print off a lot of documents, then you could do worse than using a company like Managed Print Services. Not only will such a business reduce your printing costs, but they will als reduce your carbon footprint.
Encourage Green Commuting
Are all your staff arriving to work in different cars? If so, why not encourage them to car share or even travel in by bike. You could sign up to the government buy a bike scheme that allows employees to get a bicycle tax free and pay for it out of their wages. Head over to the Cycle Scheme website for more details
Repackage Everything
If you are in a business that uses packaging a lot, then stop investing in brand new boxes and packing plastics and start reusing everything. It’s easy to do, so there isn’t any excuse, even if you are a high-end company. And, by the time delivery drivers have brought them to their destination, those lovely packages are almost always damaged anyway.
We would love to hear some of your eco-friendly business ideas, so please – share away!
