As fellow citizens of our beautiful planet, most of us understand the need to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Recently, more and more businesses have begun adopting standards similar to those we have at home. Reducing the impact that your business has on the environment (aka: its carbon footprint) has many benefits.
But it can be difficult to know exactly how to get started. Especially if you’ve mostly had ‘environmentally unfriendly’ habits around the office. I mean, the kind you’d agree is the opposite of being environmentally friendly! Like printing out documents that you have saved on your desktop or leaving the lights on in your office overnight.
But you see, these infractions are pretty much the same as those we adopted as the standard in our homes years ago. In case you need a reminder, I’ve put together a list of five ways that you can make your business more environmentally friendly.
5 Ways To Make Your Business
More Environmentally Friendly
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
OK, so we all know this one! The recycling logo is three arrows making a triangle, of which the three words are, on each line. But what do the words really mean as far as encouraging people to be environmentally friendly? Fortunately, they’re pretty self-explanatory!
Reduce literally means to “make less in amount, degree, or size”. In this case, it could mean that instead of printing hard copies of your documents, try saving them to your hard drive. You could also email the documents to yourself to save paper. Another great way to reduce the use of paper in your office is to pay your bills via e-billing programs when possible.
Reuse is also pretty self-explanatory in that, it encourages one to use materials that can be used over and over again. The more an item can be reused, whether for the same purpose or a new one each time, its carbon footprint becomes smaller and smaller.
For example, single-use plastics are a huge no-no (think styrofoam food containers). So if you’re looking to do the planet a favor, bring your lunch to work in your own washable (reusable) plastic containers.
You can recycle which literally means to “use again”, your paper, pens, paper clips (not staples though, don’t use them!), even the ink from your printer. HP Instant Ink is a great subscription program for work or a home office. You’re charged a fee based on sustainable printing, which is only the pages you print monthly. Your printer sends ink level information to HP and when the printer runs low on ink, only then are replacement ink cartridges are shipped to you.
Become Energy Efficient
If you’re not using energy efficient light bulbs by now, what on earth are you doing? You’re using way too much electricity just to power one light bulb, that’s what! But you’re also missing out on an opportunity to save yourself some money.
If you make swapping appliances and turning off lights mandatory in your business, you’ll be making a great cause on behalf of Mother Earth. Some other ways you can make your business more energy efficient is by replacing older old appliances (if you have them at your office).
Some appliances that use lots of energy are refrigerators, washing machines, and definitely AC units! Now, I know you run AC in your office… at least, you better! If your business is run out of your home, you could look into adding insulation to the walls and, if applicable, the attic in your home.
Conserve Water
Saving water has been second nature to me since I was very young. Fortunately, I was raised in a very mindful family when it came to recycling, reusing, and reducing in general. Also, since I was a swimmer, conserving water was always on my mind!
You could invest in a rainwater tank from National Poly Industries that will literally capture rainwater and convert it to a nearby filter. There it’s prepped to become non-drinking water for your home or business.
Another way to conserve water would be to fix that leaky faucet or take three-minute showers even when it’s not drought season! One way to bypass that shower time is to fill up the tub once and soak in it while reading a magazine…
Adding Plants to a Workspace IS TOO
Environmentally Friendly
OK, so it’s not going to single-handedly save the world, but wouldn’t it be great if all businesses embraced plants? When I say embrace, I mean having one at each desk (at least!) but it’s different for everyone.
The presence of some plants helps the environment by detoxifying the air in the room! Other plants actually help boost the energy of the person sitting its desk.
Most plants have more than one environmentally and personally effective qualities. Some plants can improve air quality while helping the person sitting next to it, fall asleep better that night!
Recycle Old/Used Electronics
Remember the first business cell phone you got fifteen years ago that just sits in the back of your desk? You’re never going to use it again (it’s probably a flip phone!) and it’s definitely not as energy efficient as a new smartphone! Newer tech uses less electricity and can even help you reduce your carbon footprint. Of course, when trying to figure out what to do with the old tech you still have lying around, you’ll want to recycle those old ones!
What are some ways that you’ve made your business more environmentally friendly? Or, if you haven’t done so yet, do you have any ideas about how you can start?
Jessica Rose Adams
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