In recent years, the need to protect the environment and live a cleaner, greener lifestyle has become more apparent than ever.
With scientists now predicting an impending global climate catastrophe if nations around the world don’t take steps to change their ways, the clock is ticking on us all to start taking greater care of our planet.
However, while experts suggest we as individuals all have a part to play, by far the greatest environmental damage is caused by companies. If you run a firm and want to start playing your part to slow climate change, below are a few very small adaptations you could make to your operations that could have a huge impact in terms of your carbon footprint and the potential damage your company might be doing to the world.
Embrace recycling and make it part of your general operating policy
One of the simplest changes you could implement that will make a significant difference to both your running costs and the amount of waste your firm outputs is to embrace recycling. Anything from cardboard and paper to plastic drinks bottles and printer cartridges can be recycled. You might be surprised just how much waste your firm produces – particularly if you run a larger company or are involved in manufacturing.
Indeed, depending on the size of your business, it may well be worth investing in a baling or compacting machine like those available from recyclingbalers.com. Not only will you be doing your bit for the environment, you could even make some extra cash by selling your waste to a professional recycling firm.
Try going paperless
While the promise of the paperless office has been with us for many years, in truth, it’s only recently that we’ve had the technology and connection speeds to make working without paper a reality. For example, if you move your digital services to a cloud computing firm, you’ll remove the need for your staff to make paper copies of documents since they’ll already be available 24/7/365 in online cloud storage, from any location.
Move to a green energy supplier
While green energy was once significantly more expensive, things have changed considerably in recent years with energy firms receiving incentives and cuts for being more environmentally friendly in how they create power. Spend some time shopping around to see what deals might exist.
Produce your own energy
Not only has green energy become more common through the last century – these days, it’s easier and cheaper than ever for firms (and individuals) to create their own power via solar panels or wind turbines. The advantages for the environment are clear from generating green energy, however, depending on your requirements, you might even be able to make money by selling any excess power back to the grid.
Encourage your staff to remote-work more
Linked to the above, if you move your company’s digital services to the cloud, you’ll be able to let your employees work from home rather than suffering the morning commute and contributing yet more to global emissions. Also, remote working saves on office space (again reducing your costs) and will also reduce your energy costs, rent and rates.
