With So Much Focus On The Environment Could Your Business Do More

Running a business is not easy, not at all, and so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise to you that now governments all over the world are placing more focus on the environment and being eco-friendly that you now have another plate to spin to ensure that your business is doing its bit for the environment.

However, many business owners have no clue where to start when it comes to focusing on the environment and their business prospects and location. So we thought we would share with you some of the things you could consider to ensure that your business is doing what it can towards an eco-friendly approach for the environment.

Encourage recycling in the office

One of the biggest things you can do when it comes to focusing on being eco-friendly in the workplace is to really encourage recycling. You can do this in many ways. But the best advice would be to start off with the smaller things. That’s can be the paper and plastic waste that your office develops. Having particular rubbish bins for each one would be the ideal scenario and can help you start the recycling process. You can then get commercial waste bins to help deal with it all once the recycling is collected. This can then be dealt with a specialist company to help with the recycling process further. Of course, you can do other things to encourage recycling in the office. Having gentle reminders around so that people are encouraged to do it, and making the recycling easily accessible. For other daily items that you might use such as printer ink cartridges or toner, you can also have a specialty area to collect these unused and finished items, so that they can be recycled properly.

Changing the bulbs for all the lighting

It may seem obvious, and if you were taking on an eco approach with your home it might be one of the first jobs that you do, but changing the bulbs can really help. Changing the bulbs in your office area to LED or energy saving ones could help in a few different ways. They are using less energy, which of course, is helpful for the environment, but they can also end up saving you a fair but of money in the process on the energy bills.

Switching things off at the end of the day

Another basic step, and a habit you may start to develop at home if you were trying to make a home eco-friendly, would be to switch things off when you don’t need them. I am sure lights have been left on in the past, and computer screens on monitors left on standby mode, but this is wasted energy. Encourage people and even yourself to ensure that things get switched off at the end of the day.

Review procurement policies

One of the most innovative ways to ensure that your business is doing what it can for the environment and having a greener approach is to consider the businesses procurement policies. This means reviewing how you do business with others. You can review who you do business with and ensure that where you need supplies that these are then obtained in a sustainable way. You can also make sure that the supplies you do have don’t contain any toxic chemicals or unnatural ingredients. It might also be worth considering dealing with local people first and foremost, especially within the trade. This can help save on things like logistics and extra movements that are needed for travel, and can be another way to help reduce the carbon footprint of your business. Also, some suppliers that you are dealing with might even be wanting to take up a green focus themselves, so check to see if they reuse or take back any of their packaging to complete the circle.

Could your business location be run off solar energy?

A great way to source your energy more sustainably is to consider powering your business location off solar energy. This is a great way to help reduce the ongoing costs that electricity and gas can cause, and instead use a reusable and sustainable source to generate your energy. Solar power can be really beneficial, and it can help to reduce your overall effect on the environment. There may even be incentives that your business can take advantage of to help you ensure that you can run your business sustainably and for installation things like grants may be provided. A bit of research into the business advantages you could be entitled to may make this move easier.

Recycling older technology

Most businesses will have some from of old technology living around. It might be that you have old computers and older monitors as these get replaced with faster and newer models. So ensure that when you do think about your recycling, you consider recycling the old technology properly and not sending it to landfill. Many of the parts could be used again for other things. Also when you are buying newer models for your business ask the supplier whether they take back the previous and older model or even buy them back. As there is so much focus on having a greener approach to doing business, you may find that they have policies in place to ensure that the right level of recycling for these older technology products is done correctly.

Encouraging employees to change the way they commute to work

Finally, it can be hard to enforce your own beliefs and habits on other people. You simply have a duty to share and encourage and one of the ways you can do that is through asking for change when it comes to the daily commute. Car sharing,using public transport, getting on a bike or walking, they can all be great way to reduce the carbon footprint and for some people it may even save them money personally.

I hope that this helps you to bring in a focus on the environment to your business.