The
majority of businesses are making the conscious effort to go green as the new
agenda continues to overflow with stories about carbon emissions and global
warming. It is more than just saving the environment that is on the mind of a
business though. Firstly, going greener normally means streamlining your
organisational methods, which not only boosts the environment and productivity,
but will more than likely save money over the longer period. Better still,
consumers and other businesses are more likely to want to align with an
organisation that has greener credentials and has taken steps to minimise their
environmental impact. Here are some of things a business can do to improve its
eco-friendliness:
Educate and
involve staff
A
business is nothing without its employees, so it is important to adjust their
potentially wasteful behaviour. The main one being that many employees will
drive separate cars to work even though they are coming from the same direction
as many other colleagues. Instead of bringing their own vehicles you can
encourage them to car share on the way to and from work to cut down on their
carbon emissions and fuel consumption. By involving staff in being greener you
can make them feel like a bigger part of the business and more motivated.
Appliances and
energy consumption
The
amount of energy that appliances and machinery use up on a daily basis is
astonishing. It is important to understand your appliances and see how they
perform to make sure you don’t have it on a setting that uses more power than
necessary for the jobs you are doing on it. Keeping them maintained and
efficient is another way to make a subtle difference to your levels of energy
consumption. Also, always make sure that appliances, machinery and lights are
all turned off when the factory or office is closed as otherwise you are
throwing money and your green ambitions out of the window.
Paper usage
and recycling
Paper
usage is a big issue when it comes to life in the standard office. Unnecessary
printing of emails, reports and letters is causing mass deforestation and
causing environmental issues. One good way to save wasting paper is to try and
do many more things electronically, like invoicing and paying bills. Christmas
holiday eCards are a great way to stop the excessive mail out of festive
greetings that squanders countless amounts of paper, which increases the deforestation
issues. Reusing paper is also a simple way that can cut your paper wastage
quickly as can ensuring that your staff recycle everything possible to boost
your eco-friendly nature.
