Make Your Business More Sustainable

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4 Nov. 2020. Moving more sustainable practices and ideas to your business isn’t just better for the environment, but it could also improve the reputation of your business and your bottom line. Consumers want to deal with companies that they see as making an effort to be sustainable, and people also want to work for greener companies. There are some simple changes that you can implement to improve your overall environmental impact.

1. Think more seriously about recycling. Don’t just recycle the obvious things like paper and ink cartridges. Be more creative and look for other ways to reuse or recycle things. You could do things like buy upcycled furniture to furnish your workspaces. You could even upcycle old pieces yourself. If you’re not skilled in this area, you could look for vintage or second-hand furniture instead. Reuse old paper as packing for anything you mail out, by shredding it.
2. Lower your utility usage. Look hard at your water and electricity bills. What could you do to get them lower? Encourage your staff to think more sustainably and bring in policies about turning off unused taps, lights, and electronics. Fit motion-sensitive lights, so areas that nobody is working in don’t have lights left on. Store water in a tank to use less water. Could you make use of alternative power, like solar power? Experts like Deepak Agarwal explain how important these efforts can be.
3. Aim to put zero waste in landfill. With careful planning across your organization, you can make this possible to do and stop sending any waste to landfill. If you need help better managing your waste, you could hire an expert waste treatment contractor to guide you. Replace any disposable plastic with alternative options like bamboo, give your team reusable water bottles instead of restocking plastic cups in the water machine, and swap fluorescent tubes for LED lighting.
4. Allow employees to work from home where possible. Remote working can have a positive impact on your company’s environmental footprint. Remote working has become more commonplace, with lots of organizations opting to allow their staff to leave the office and to work at home instead. With fewer people in the office, you won’t need as large a workspace. This means less electricity is used, and individual carbon footprints are reduced when people don’t commute. Fewer office supplies will be used, generating less waste for landfill.
5. Be smart with paper. Cutting back on how much your print is a smart place to start, and is where most companies begin when they look at how they can reduce paper use. You can reduce printing needs by going more digital, and sharing documents in the Cloud. Set printers to automatically use both sides of the paper, and print in draft mode.

Making your business more sustainable can help you to save money on the bills, but will also improve your reputation in the science world. You can show you are an organization that cares, which is appealing to clients and potential employees.

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