#Collaborative post
Maintaining the balance between your business making money and it being recognised as being environmentally sound can be a real challenge for owners. However, here are some top tips to make it easier for you to do without needing to splash out on expensive gimmicks.
Save energy
Energy consumption is usually massive for business owners, particularly if they have their own premises. There are ways to easily reduce the amount used and with it costs. Encouraging a mindful approach to leaving rooms and switching off lights could help. Alternatively, if you are setting up your new premises, consider automatic ones instead. Furthermore, the actual bulbs you choose can make a difference to wasted energy, too. Many appliances fail when it comes to energy efficiency. When you are ready to replace or upgrade any of your equipment, doing your research can help in this area. Simple to read labels are often placed on appliances within electrical stores. However, you ought to seek to find out the facts in conjunction with reading the labels to find out the true picture.
Consider your travels
If you need to travel to your place of work, this can have a negative impact on the environment. To make a difference, you may wish to consider changing your vehicle for a hybrid or an electric one, for example. If that takes your interest, looking into the longest range electric cars will help you to get the best value for money, helping the environment at the same time. Alternatively, you may wish to consider investing in a bike if your workplace is nearby.
Encourage car sharing
If you have a number of employees, it would be worth encouraging car sharing as a way to reduce the impact travelling to and from the premises can have on the environment. Furthermore, it will also help you in terms of car parking spaces if you do not have a vast amount of outdoor space.
Reduce
Online systems are commonplace in most businesses these days. Not only do they mean that you have the information you need almost at the touch of a button, but this way of working also creates a lower impact on the world around you. Rather than printing out reams of paperwork, consider whether you definitely require paper copies. Could you get away with looking at things on the screen? If documents need to be shared with others, do you really need to post them? Could encrypted versions be sent via email? Going, and staying, online will make a considerable difference to your business’s carbon footprint.
Recycle and reuse
Recycling is far from a new phenomenon, but still, many businesses fail to do everything they possibly could to help the situation. Ensuring that there are clearly labelled bins around the premises for recyclable materials to be disposed of properly is imperative. And while it might be easy to throw paperwork into a bin, consider whether it is safe to do so in terms of security and data protection. Alternatively, you could shred your private papers and reuse them in shredded format in a compost bin, for example.